Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Penalties cripple Cougars

The Prince George Cougars blew a two-goal lead and lost 5-3 to the Regina Pats Saturday night in Regina.
SPORT-cougars.jpg

The Prince George Cougars blew a two-goal lead and lost 5-3 to the Regina Pats Saturday night in Regina.

Not taking anything away from the Pats, who handed the Cougars their fourth loss in what was six-game, 12-day tour of the WHL East Division, but on this night, the Cats shot themselves in the foot with their lack of discipline.

The Cougars are the most penalized team in the Western Hockey League and they gave the Pats nine power-play chances, including two 5-on-3 opportunities, both of which resulted in Regina goals.

"The turning point was the two 5-on-3s," said Cougars assistant coach Roman Vopat. "The penalties -- it's a constant headache from Game 1 and we keep taking the dumb penalties and eventually it's going to cost us the games and later on, maybe even a playoff round. We've got to make sure we play hard but play within the rules, that's what the game is all about.

"For us to be able to win the game and use all four lines evenly we have to play 5-on-5 and that was not the case against Regina."

Leading 1-0 in the second period after Jesse Gabrielle scored his 33rd of the season, the Cougars gave Regina sniper Sam Steel too much room to operate and his one-timer on a two-man advantage tied it up.

The Cougars didn't seem to let that bother them and got the next two goals. Chase Witala's 33rd of the season nine minutes into the second period was a thing of beauty. Witala got the puck on his stick and waited for Pats goalie Tyler Brown to flop to the ice, then went wide and tucked it into the net. Five minutes later, fourth-line centre Justin Almeida celebrated the second goal of his WHL career on the night of his 17th birthday, picking the corner high with a shot from the slot.

With less than two minutes left in the second period, the Pats scored two quick goals to tie it up 3-3. Cougars defenceman Sam Ruopp was in the box serving a tripping penalty which wasn't a bad decision considering it took away a legitimate Regina scoring chance. But with a minute still to kill on Ruopp's penalty and the play blown dead, Cats defenceman Tate Olson lost his cool and cross-checked a Pats player behind the net, putting the Cougars in another awkward situation.

With 45 seconds left in Olson's penalty, Cole Sanford rapped in a screened shot from the face-off circle. Eight seconds later, Chase Harrison split the defence carrying the puck and was stopped but the puck was left for linemate Jared McAmmond, who fired it in past Nick McBride.

While penalties hurt the Cougars, their power play wasn't very effective either. They scored on just one of their nine chances, while the Pats went 2-for-9. The two teams combined for 136 minutes in penalties.

Rykr Cole scored the winner with 3:28 left in the third period, and it came right after the Pats held the Cats without a shot on a power play. Sean Richards jumped out of the penalty box and took the puck in deep. His shot was stopped by McBride, but the rebound kicked out to Cole and he tucked it in the open side. Sanford completed the scoring with an empty-netter.

Shots were even at 36 apiece.

Saturday's loss marked the first time all season the Cougars have dropped three straight games. That started Wednesday with a 3-1 defeat in Prince Albert and festered Friday with an 8-3 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Cougars started their trip with a 3-2 overtime loss in Swift Current, then won 6-2 in Moose Jaw and 7-0 in Saskatoon. They'll return to home ice at CN Centre Friday and Saturday when they host the Kelowna Rockets.

The Cougars are now averaging 19.5 penalty minutes per game and have played shorthanded 261 times, more than any other WHL team. Although their penalty-killing ranks near the top of the league, ranked fourth at 81.3 per cent, the Cougars' habit of breaking the rules is a disturbing trend with just 17 games left on the schedule before the playoffs begin.

"If we continue taking penalties like we did in this trip, we're going to have no chance against Kelowna," said Vopat.