The Prince George Cougars’ winless streak grew to three games after a 7-2 loss to the Portland Winterhawks at CN Centre Friday.
Connor Bowie and Hudson Thornton scored for Prince George. Tyler Brennan suffered the loss in net, as he stopped 28 of 33 shots in 40 minutes of work. Ty Young made 17 saves in 20 minutes after replacing Brennan at the before the start of the third period.
The loss, coupled with the Vancouver’s 4-0 win over Victoria on Friday, dropped Prince George to seventh place in the Western Conference standings.
The Cougars (19-28-2-1) have now lost their last six home games dating back to January 21st.
Taylor Gauthier stopped 25 shots in his return to Prince George. The former Cougar has won 13 of his 14 starts since the trade to the Winterhawks.
Portland’s Gabe Klassen led the way offensively, as he recorded a hat-trick in the win. Tyson Kozak had four assists and James Stefan (1g-2a) and Jaydon Dureau (0g-3a) each had three points.
The Winterhawks (33-13-3-2) led 2-0 through 20 minutes, before Prince George staged a mini rally midway through the middle frame. Bowie (power play) and Thornton scored one minute and 40 seconds apart to tie the game 2-2. However, Portland’s response was immediate.
Forty seconds after Thornton had tied it, Klassen scored his second to put the Winterhawks back ahead 3-2. Then, it was Klassen and Marcus Nguyen scoring 28 seconds apart to quickly make it 5-2. Klassen picked up his hat-trick goal in the third period on an extended power play. Stefan made it 6-2 at 9:53 and Klassen’s third of the game came at 11:46.
NOTES
Hudson Thornton has five points (2g-3a) in his last four games. Prince George is 0-3-0-0 against Portland this season and have been outscored 17-5 in those three games. Ryker Singer returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an upper body injury.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Cougars: Connor Bowie, Hudson Thornton
Winterhawks: Gabe Klassen (3), Kyle Chyzowski, Clay Hanus, Marcus Nguyen, James Stefan.
Goaltending
Cougars:
Tyler Brennan (L), 28 saves, 33 shots, 40:00
Ty Young, 17 saves, 19 shots, 20:00
Winterhawks:
Taylor Gauthier (W), 25 saves, 27 shots, 20:00
Power-Play
Cougars: 1/4
Winterhawks: 3/3
Shots
Cougars: 27
Winterhawks: 52
Three Stars: 1) Gabe Klassen, Portland; 2) James Stefan, Portland; 3) Clay Hanus, Portland.
Next Game: Saturday, against Portland Winterhawks, 7 p.m.
