The Prince George Cougars have been guilty of teasing their fans.
Just when it looks like they're about to make up ground on their conference rivals and move into the Western Hockey League's high-rent district, they take a step backwards.
The Cougars (27-17-1-1) have slipped to fourth in the Western Conference after they blew a chance to close the gap on the first-place Kelowna Rockets in a 7-4 loss Tuesday in Kelowna.
While he didn't like the fact his team surrendered seven goals that night, Cougars head coach Mark Holick could not find much fault in how his troops handled their assignments on the ice and he's encouraged they'll bring that same effort to the rink tonight at CN Centre when the Cats host the Kamloops Blazers in the first of a two-game weekend set.
"I liked the way we played (Tuesday), I thought that we probably deserved a little better," sad Holick. "I liked the fact that we came out in the third period and put 18 pucks at them (11 shots got through that period to Rockets goalie Michael Herringer) and only allowed three, including an empty-netter. That's a real good sign for our players of the character they have and if there's something that can galvanize this group, then that should be it."
The Rockets scored three goals on 12 shots in the first period, including an early power-play goal from Cal Foote and a questionable penalty shot awarded 17 minutes into the game to Dillon Dube, who buried his second chance.
"Our start was fine, we didn't get a save when we needed it and I thought we came after them and finished checks," said Holick.
"The penalty didn't help and the penalty shot, which I won't comment on, were huge momentum swings in that game. We didn't have to be behind 3-1. I'm not happy with the goals against but that might have been one of the only losses where I left the game going, 'we actually played alright.'"
Holick wants his team to tighten up its defensive zone coverage and not allow the Blazers as much time and space as they gave their opponents in Kelowna or in their 6-4 win over the Giants Saturday in Vancouver.
The Blazers, 5-2-1-2 in their last 10 games, are coming off a 2-1 loss at home Wednesday to the Everett Silvertips. Backed by goalie Carter Hart, the surging Silvertips are 8-0-2-0 in their last 10 and have moved ahead of the Cougars and Victoria Royals into second place, four points ahead of Prince George and one up on Victoria.
Kamloops (22-16-4-3) is just five points behind the Cougars, having played one less game, which underlines the importance of the next two games for both teams. The Cougars have won three of the last four in the season series against the Blazers.
"They're well-coached, Don (Hay) does a good job, they're well-structured and Connor Ingram has done an unbelievable job in their net for them," Holick said. "He's giving them confidence and gives them a chance to win games."
Holick expects to see Ingram start both nights. The 18-year-old from Imperial, Sask., has played in 35 of the Blazers' 45 games.
He sports a 19-10-4-3 record, 2.74 goals-against average and .916 save percentage with two shutouts.
By comparison, Cougars goalie Ty Edmonds has a 2.56 GAA (fourth-best in the WHL), 15-10-1-0 record, .917 save rate and three shutouts. He will draw his eighth consecutive start tonight.
"Since Christmas our goaltending has been inconsistent, like the way it was provided earlier and I'm not taking a run at anybody," said Holick. "They need to do a better job defending in front of him. Earlier in the year when we had breakdowns we got a big save and at this point in time it seems like everybody's trying to find their way.
"You're not winning anything without goaltending. If that's pressure, well I guess I just put pressure on him."
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars will be without D Josh Anderson, out indefinitely with an undisclosed upper-body injury he suffered Saturday in Vancouver, and D Max Martin, who remains sidelined following shoulder surgery in October. D Dawson Davidson is the only injured Blazer. The 17-year-old has missed 11 games with an undisclosed injury. Davidson, with 22 points in 34 games, is one of four Blazers on the NHL midseason draft watch list, ranked 197th on the list of North American skaters. D Ondrej Vela of the Czech Republic is 70th on the North American list, and C Garrett Pilon is 187th... Blazers LW Gage Quinney, 20, returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing three weeks with an injury. Despite missing 15 games, the former Rocket ranks third in Blazer scoring with 36 points, including 15 goals. He also leads his team with a plus-26 ranking... Silvertips F Matt Fonteyne was credited with the winning goal Wednesday in Kamloops on an own-goal bounce off a Blazer. Fonteyne's grandfather Val had a 15-season career as a left winger with New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers... The game at Sandman Centre in Kamloops on First Nations Night drew a season-high crowd of 4,380.
