It's official, the Prince George Cougars are No. 1 - to draft first overall in the 2012 Western Hockey League bantam draft in the spring.
The Cougars (15-31-1-8) lost their fifth straight game, and were swept by the Everett Silvertips (12-30-0-2) in two games at CN Centre on the weekend, falling 4-3 as the 'Tips jumped over the Cats and into ninth place in the Western Conference standings.
The youthful Cats fell behind 4-1 on four mistakes which the Silvertips capitalized on to win their sixth game in January - a team high for wins in a month in the 2011-2012 season. Everett is now a point ahead of the Cougars and four behind the Victoria Royals (16-29-2-3) for the eighth, and final, playoff spot.
Daulton Siwak pulled the Cougars within a goal at 4-3 early in the third period with an unassisted marker as he skated out from the corner to the hash mark and put the puck in the net.
Joshua Winquist extended the Silvertips' lead in the second period to 4-1 with a pair of goals about two minutes apart. The first was a turnover by the Cougars at their blueline that sent Ryan Harrison in alone on Drew Owsley. The 20-year-old goaltender made the stop, but Harrison managed to put the puck back on Winquist's stick and Owsley couldn't get over in time.
The St. Albert, Alta., native scored his 12 goal of the season when the Cats turned the puck over in their own end and left Winquist alone in the slot.
Cougars' left-winger Spencer Asuchak, playing in his 200th career WHL game, scored his 13 goal of the season on a power play to cut the Silvertips' lead in half at 4-2.
It was 2-0 for the Silvertips before the game was six minutes old. Defenceman Austin Adam benefited when Cougars' affiliate defenceman Marc McNulty turned the puck over in his own zone to Trent Lofthouse. The 17-year-old centre slid the puck to Adam at the blueline and he blasted a shot past a screened Owsley.
Everett went up 2-0 on their second shot of the game when Josh Birkholz beat a screened Owsley for his 23 goal of the season 16 seconds into a power play.
The Cougars cut the lead in half late in the period when centre Greg Fraser was the recipient of Silvertips' right-winger Cody Fowlie's poor decision in carrying the puck up the ice in front of his goal. Fraser quickly fired a backhanded shot past Everett goalie Kent Simpson.
CAT SCRATCHES: Cody Carlson had a new defensive partner in the game as Dan Gibb was out after suffering an upper-body injury in Friday's game. Ricard Blidstrand was paired with Carlson. Brock Hirsche, out for the season after having shoulder surgery in December, stepped into a new role as assistant coach for the game. The Cougars head to Victoria for games Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home for a doubleheader with the Kelowna Rockets next weekend.
