For the first 20 minutes on Monday night, it looked like the Cougars might have the Medicine Hat Tigers by the tail.
But in the second period the big cats unsheathed their claws and took a lead they never surrendered, beating the Cougars 6-4 at CN Centre.
Jesse Gabrielle put the Cats on the board early in the first period, with assists by Chase Witala and Brogan O'Brien. The Cougars retained the lead until the early minutes of the second when the Tigers took advantage of a roughing penalty against Tate Olson to score on Cats' netminder Ty Edmonds.
From there it went downhill for the Cougars. The Tigers poured on two more goals in the second period and three more in the third.
Gabrielle picked up a second goal for the Cougars in the second period, and Joseph Carvalho and Brad Morrison scored in the third.
The 6-4 game is the only matchup between the Cougars and Tigers at CN Centre this season.
With the loss, the Cougars (29-18-1-1, 60 points) remain three points behind the Victoria Royals in the battle for second place in the B.C. Division. The teams have both played 49 games.
For the Cougars, the loss marred what had been a perfect homestand that saw them sweep the Kamloops Blazers in a weekend doubleheader. The Cats doused the Blazers 9-4 on Friday and 6-1 on Saturday.
Monday's game was the last for the Cougars on home ice until Feb. 12 when they host the Kelowna Rockets. Between now and then, the Cats will embark on their longest road trip of the season, a six-game grind through the Eastern Conference that starts Friday night in Swift Current and continues Saturday in Moose Jaw. The following week, the Cougars will make stops in Saskatoon (Feb. 2), Prince Albert (Feb. 3), Brandon (Feb. 5) and Regina (Feb. 6).
