Sure it was a preseason game and the score doesn't really matter.
Try telling that to the Prince George Cougars.
A loss is a loss and even in the preseason, it sucks.
Thankfully for the Cougars, their 3-1 loss to the Portland Winterhawks Friday doesn't count in the WHL standings. But it no doubt wounded the pride of the Cats, whose preseason record dropped to 2-3.
Colton Velosa, Alex Overhardt and Tanner Nagel, into an empty net, scored the goals for Portland. Justin Almeida, the Cougars' sophomore centre, opened the scoring on a Prince George power play at the midway mark of the second period.
Cole Kehler made 16 saves while going the distance in net for the Winterhawks. Ty Edmonds stopped all 15 shots he faced in 30 minutes of action before 15-year-old Taylor Gauthier took over between the pipes. The Cougars' first-round bantam pick stopped 11 of 13 shots.
The Cats went 1-for-4 on the power play while Portland went 0-for-7.
The game was the third in less than three days in Kennewick, Wash., for the Cougars, who had 10 rookies in the lineup. On Wednesday they lost 5-3 to the Tri-City Americans and on Thursday they posted a 5-4 overtime win over the Kootenay Ice.
The Cougars will be home this week for four days of practice to get ready for the Kamloops Blazers, who will play at CN Centre Friday night, the final preseason game for both teams.
The Cougars play their season-opening games in Victoria against the Royals, Sept. 23-24. The following weekend, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, the Cougars host the Kelowna Rockets to open their home schedule at CN Centre.
