The Prince George Cougars suffered their first loss of the Western Hockey League preseason Saturday afternoon in Red Deer, Alta., falling 4-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Aaron Irving, Brayden Gorda, Ty Gerla and Colton Kehler, with an empty-netter, took care of the goal scoring for the Oil Kings.
Brogan O'Brien and rookie defenceman Cole Moberg replied for the Cougars, whose preseason record dropped to 1-1.
Oil Kings goalie Alex Dillon stopped 19 of 20 shots he faced in the first half of the game to record the victory. Liam Hughes made 14 saves and gave up one goal in relief of Dillon.
Ty Edmonds took the loss in the Cougars nets, allowing three goals on 20 shots. Tavin Grant was flawless, stopping all nine shots he faced coming in to replace Edmonds midway through the second period. The Cougars outshot their opponents 35-30.
Irving opened the scoring 16:03 into the first period, beating Edmonds with a wrist shot. O'Brien tied it on a scramble in front of the net 34 seconds later, but the Oil Kings went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead on Gorda's goal 17:39 into the period. Gerla scored the winner 8:25 into the second period.
The Cougars were coming off a 5-4 overtime win over the Calgary Hitmen to start the preseason Friday afternoon. The Oil Kings lost 6-1 to the Red Deer Rebels in their exhibition debut Friday night.
“I think there was a lot less nervousness from the guys who played the night before,” said Hamilton, on the Oil Kings website, oilkings.ca. “We asked them to be more accountable for their work ethics. Systems aren’t going to be a focal point at this time of year. We have had zero practices as a team together since the start of camp. I asked the guys to raise the intensity today and they did a much better job.”
The Cougars are back on the road this week for three preseason games in Kennewick, Wash. The Cats take on the Tri-City Americans Wednesday (7:05 p.m.), play the Portland Winterhawks Thursday (7:05 p.m.) , then face the Kootenay Ice Friday morning (11 a.m. start).
The Cougars return to CN Centre to close out the preseason Friday, Sept. 16 against the Kamloops Blazers.
WHL preseason
In Red Deer
Saturday summary
Cougars 2 at Oil Kings 4
First Period
1. Edmonton, Irving 1, 16:03
2. Prince George, O'Brien 1 (Collins, Morrison) 16:37
3. Edmonton, Gorda 1 (Roach, Keeler) 17:39
Penalties - Craik PG (hooking) 3:09; Edm bench (too many men) 7:13, Atkinson Edm (hooking) 11:14, Gerla Edm (holding) 17:55.
Second Period
4. Edmonton, Gerla 1 (Bauer, Kehler) 8:25
Penalties - Kennedy Edm (hooking) 8:54, Harkins PG (cross checking, 16:33.
Third Period
5. Prince George, Moberg 1 (Almeida, Curtis) 2:22
6. Edmonton, Kehler 1 (Harris) 18:29 (en)
Penalties - Baltruk Edm (charging) 8:46, Elizarov Edm (checking from behind) 10:12.
Shots on goal by
Prince George 15 8 12 -35
Edmonton 15 10 5 --30
Goal - Prince George, Edmonds 0-1-0-0 (20 shots-17 saves); Grant 0-0-0-0 (9 shots-9 saves). Edmonton, Dillon 1-0-0-0 (20 shots-19 saves); Hughes 0-0-0-0 (15 shots-14 saves).
Power play - Prince George 0-6; Edmonton 0-2.
