An inability to capitalize on the power play had the Prince George Cougars suffering their 33rd loss of the Western Hockey League season.
The Cougars were 0-for-5 with the man advantage in an evenly played game at CN Centre as the Kelowna Rockets (23-23-2-4) skated away with a 2-1 win in front of an announced crowd of 1,525. The loss leaves the Cougars (16-33-0-2) in ninth place in the Western Conference, four points behind the eighth-place Seattle Thunderbirds and five points in arrears of the Victoria Royals.
"With the young lineup that we had we battled really hard," said Cougars' assistant coach Jason Becker as the team dressed nine players under 18. "We were just a little snakebitten around the net. We had a couple posts and crossbars and an open net or two there and we just weren't able to capitalize."
Spencer Asuchak tied the game at 1-1 early in the third period with his 14th goal of the season, but the Rockets' leading scorer Shane McColgan restored the visitors' lead midway through the period when he slipped the puck under Cougars' goaltender Devon Fordyce's glove.
Prince George had trouble generating offence on each of its five power plays, which is the story of the season for the 22nd ranked unit in the WHL. The Rockets were 0-for-1 on their only power play.
"It's definitely been an achiles heel for us," said Becker about the team's power play. "We're just trying to do too much on it. We've just got to keep it simple, make a couple passes and get pucks to the net."
In six games against the Rockets this season the Cougars are 1-5 with two more on deck, starting tonight at 7 p.m.
The Cougars out shot the Rockets 11-7 in a scoreless opening period where both teams best chances came late. Alone in front of the Rockets' net, Campbell Elynuik was unable to beat Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown with a quick wrist shot. Not long after Fordyce stood his ground as Colton Scissons broke in on a breakaway.
Cody Chickie gave the Rockets a 1-0 advantage early in the second period with his 13th goal of the season.
Linden Springer picked up his fourth point of the season when he assisted on Asuchak's goal, keeping the puck in the Rockets' zone and firing it on net for his 20-year-old teammate to pick up.
"It's tough to hang your head after a game like that," said Springer. "We were doing some good things, unfortunately not coming out with the win, but it's a lot of good things to look forward to and it's a good sign for tomorrow."
Brown picked up the win to improve his season record to 17-18-0-2 while Fordyce took the loss for the Cougars leaving him with a 1-6-0-1 record. Kelowna held the edge on the shot clock 29-27. Fordyce drew the start after Drew Owsley suffered a lower-body injury in the morning skate. Becker said the 20 year old will be reevaluated today and if he's given a clean bill of health will likely get the start in the rematch with the Rockets.
Cat scratches: Prince George native and Minnesota Wild prospect Brett Bulmer was "under the weather" according to Rockets' assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert and watched Friday's game from the stands. In 34 games this season Bulmer has 20 goals and 39 points for the Rockets. The Rockets have lost 272 man games to injury this season - with Jason Siebert and Max Adolph missing all 52 games. Former Cougars' forward Brett Connolly has averaged 6:26 minutes of ice time with Tampa Bay in his last five games and was a healthy scratch Thursday in the Lightning's 2-1 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets. In 38 NHL games, Connolly has four goals and eight points. Prince George traded Connolly's junior rights to the Tri City Americans in January. Tampa Bay has until the NHL trade deadline at the end of February to decide if they'll release the Prince George native to lend a helping hand for the Americans' playoff run. Tampa Bay trails Winnipeg by five points in the Southeast Division and is nine points behind the eighth-place Toronto Maple Leafs. Former Cats' forward Charles Inglis had two goals for the Red Deer Rebels on Friday but it wasn't enough as the Edmonton Oil Kings scored a 3-2 win.
WHL summary:
Kelowna Rockets 2 Prince George Cougars 1
1st period:
No scoring.
Penalties: Rigby KEL (holding); 5:22; Scissons KEL (kneeing) 18:10.
2nd period:
1. Kelowna Cody Chickie 13 (Bowie) 1:42
Penalties: Moar KEL (tripping) 7:18; Siwak PG (interference) 9:15; Moar KEL (tripping) 15:18; Martin KEL (roughing), Tkatch PG (roughing) 17:25.
3rd period:
2. Prince George Spencer Asuchak 14 (Springer) 3:28
3. Kelowna Shane McColgan 14 (Severson, Franko) 10:06
Penalties: Goulbourne KEL (roughing) 5:39; Rigby KEL (boarding minor, fighting major), Elynuik PG (fighting major, instigating minor, 10-minute misconduct) 8:00.
Shots:
Kelowna 7 12 11 29
Prince George 11 8 8 27
Goaltenders: Kelowna Adam Brown (W 17-18-0-2) Prince George Devon Fordyce (L 1-6-0-1)
Power plays: Kelowan 0/1 Prince George 0/5
Referees: Colin Watt, Derek Zalaski; Linesmen: Greg Chomohous, Justin Hull
Attendance: 1,525
