What's happening to the Prince George Cougars on the road this season?
Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Hitmen in Calgary was yet another example of what has become a disturbing trend. The final score actually flattered the Cats, who had to lean on goalie Nick McBride to make 35 saves as the game's third star, to prevent an embarrassing blowout as they were outshot 38-15.
That came three days after the Cougars suffered their worst loss of the season to date, a 9-1 stinker Sunday night in Kamloops. The Blazers have owned the Cougars the past month. They beat them 6-1 on Oct. 28 and 5-2 on Nov. 7, both in Kamloops.
In 10 road games, the Cats have an unimpressive 3-6-1-0 record and have been outscored a combined 33-14. The saving grace has been their results at home. They're 8-3-0-0 at CN Centre and have outscored teams 40-23.
Heading into tonight's game against the Hurricanes in Lethbridge, the Cougars (10-9-1-0) still rank sixth in the Western Conference. They're just one point ahead of the Portland Winterhawks and Kamloops Blazers and each of those teams has been hot lately.
The Cougars are without goalie Ty Edmonds (hamstring injury), defenceman Josh Anderson (eye injury) and blueliner Max Martin (shoulder surgery). The Hurricanes have no injuries to report.
The Cougars wrap up their four-game road trip Saturday night in Medicine Hat, where they face the Tigers. It's a good bet former Cougar goalie Mack Shields will play in that game. Shields, who was traded to Medicine Hat two weeks ago, is 1-2 so far playing for the Tigers. He made 24 saves Wednesday in a 6-2 loss to Brandon.
