Comparatively-speaking, it was close, but no cigar.
A 7-4 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings might not seem like tight game but it was small victory for a Prince George Cougars team that's made it a habit of losing big on the nights they do lose.
Nolan Patrick and Rihards Bukarts when the messengers of doom, each scoring a pair of goals to hand the Cats (7-6-0-0) their sixth loss of the season Wednesday night at CN Centre.
Heading into the game, all five previous Cougar losses were by five goals or more. Too many penalties and a deadly power play from the top-notch Wheat Kings, who scored four times on eight power-play chances, killed the Cats.
It just seemed whenever the Cougars looked like they were about to draw even, the Wheat Kings (9-2-1-0) found ways to cut to the jugular. But there was some late-game excitement.
Down 5-2 with 10 minutes gone in the third period and the Cougars on the power play, Sam Ruopp's point shot gave goalie Jordan Pipirny trouble and Jared Bethune worked his way in deep to jam in the puck.
Bethune, a 17-year-old centre projected as a second- or third-round NHL draft pick next year, played his first game in Prince George since joining the Cougars two weeks ago from Lincoln of the USHL and his first WHL goal gave the Cougars some life.
Chase Witala made it a two-goal game a couple minutes later but the Cats were unable to stay away from penalties and with Jari Erricson off for slashing, Patrick iced it with his second of the game.
Brandon took the lead late in the period on a power-play goal from Reid Duke. The visitors made it 3-1 early in the second period when Patrick buried the rebound of Eric Roy's point shot with Cats defenceman Wil Tomchuk serving an interference penalty.
The Cougars pulled to within a goal 12:07 into the second period. Tyler Mrkonjic won an offensive-zone face-off and Chance Braid rifled in a low shot while cutting across the slot. Braid just missed on another quality chance a couple minutes later and Wheat Kings defenceman Macoy Erkamps cleared the loose puck off the boards for a streaking Tyler Coulter, who fooled Ty Edmonds with a forehand-backhand deke.
The Cougars drew first blood with a power-play goal 5:24 into the game, a give-and-go between Brad Morrison and Bethune. Bethune took the pass from Morrison and waited while the P.G. product broke for the net to accept a quick feed in the slot.
Bukarts, a Latvian import and the Wheaties' leading scorer, tied it with a slick finishing move after an extended full-court press in the Cougar end. He gained the puck in the face-off circle and waited for Cats' defenceman Joseph Carvalho to slide out of the picture with a block attempt before lifting a high shot into the net.
The Cats play their next three games on the road. They'll be in Red Deer on Friday, play Saturday in Edmonton, and wrap up their trip Sunday afternoon in Calgary.
LOOSE PUCKS: The CN Centre crowd of 2,260 observed a moment of silence before the game in tribute to Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, a Canadian soldier shot and killed Wednesday morning by a masked gunman at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.. Cougars defenceman Josh Anderson is getting set to leave the team at the end of next week to play in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sarnia-Lambton, Ont. Joining Anderson on Canada White will be Wheat Kings LW Tanner Kaspick. Two other Brandon players -- Patrick (Canada Red) and D Kale Clague (Canada Black) -- have been picked for the eight-team tournament, Oct.1-Nov. 8... The Wheat Kings traveled 1,873 kilometres to get to Prince George for the start of a seven-game, 11-day roadtrip.
