In Monday's Family Day game at CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars were blanked for the fifth time this Western Hockey League season, this time by the Red Deer Rebels.
In a 4-0 victory for the Rebels, they got goals from Dawson Barteaux, Alexander Alexeyev, Mason McCarty and Kristian Reichel. The Barteaux and McCarty markers came on the power play. The visitors led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after the second.
Brandon Hagel of the Rebels had a huge impact on the game as he finished with four primary assists.
In goal, Taylor Gauthier - who stopped 27 of 31 Red Deer shots - took the loss. The win and the shutout went to Riley Lamb, who made 25 saves. The shutout was Lamb's first of the season.
The Rebels broke open a tight-checking affair with the Alexeyev and McCarty goals, which came late in the second period and early in the third.
Late in the first period, the Cougars had a lengthy five-on-three power play but couldn't connect for a goal. They came close when defenceman Joel Lakusta rang a point shot off the post behind Lamb. The Cats finished the game 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
The Cougars dropped to 19-30-4-4 on the season. They are last in the Western Conference and ahead of only the Calgary Hitmen (17-31-5-2) and Edmonton Oil Kings (16-32-5-2) overall.
Red Deer improved to 18-26-10-3 and sits 10th in the Eastern Conference.
The Cougars start a four-game road trip on Saturday in Kamloops. They'll also visit Kelowna (Feb. 20), Spokane (Feb. 23) and Tri-City (Feb. 24).
