All it took was one shot to prolong the Prince George Cougars' misery on the Western Hockey League road.
Spokane Chiefs right winger Jacob Cardiff flicked the dagger into the heart of the Cougars, scoring the only goal in 1-0 Chiefs' victory Wednesday night in Spokane -- the fifth straight road loss for the Cougars.
Lasse Petersen blocked 30 shots to earn his third shutout of the season.
On the winning goal, the Cougars got caught watching the puck as an unguarded Cardiff accepted a pass in front from linemate Markson Bechtold, and ripped a shot in past goalie Nick McBride with 17:37 gone in the first period.
The Cougars had their chances but missed the net too many times and lacked finish around the net. Bechtold came up with one of his best saves with 10 minutes left when Jansen Harkins set up linemate Chase Witala in front for a one-timer that Petersen stopped with his leg pad. Witala and Brogan O'Brien were each denied by Petersen on close-in shots with about four minutes to play.
McBride did his job in net, making 29 saves, but got no offensive support. The Cougars (32-25-3-1), whose 211 goals ranks seventh in the WHL, have now scored just five goals in four games.
The Cougars goalie got to the bench for the extra skater in the final minute but Petersen was there to deny Max Martin's point shot and Jesse Gabrielle just missed on the rebound with a backhander.
The win moved the Chiefs (29-23-5-3) one point ahead of Portland into sixth place in the Western Conference. The Winterhawks lost 5-1 Wednesday in Edmonton.
The Cougars finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while Spokane went scoreless in three opportunities.
"I thought we played hard for 60 minutes, we changed the lineup a little bit and went younger and went with seven defencemen and I thought (16-year-olds) with Jonas Harkins and Adam Kadlec responded very well," said Cougars assistant coach Roman Vopat.
"I think (defenceman Luka) Zorko played extremely well tonight as well. We played hard enough to win the game and had 30 shots, but if you don't score goals, in any sport, you can't win. Good teams always overcome adversity and it's tough when you see the kids working hard and it just doesn't happen for them. But if we play like this and work hard, eventually it's going to come."
The Cougars have a day to practice today and will remain in Spokane to play the Chiefs Friday, then head to Kennewick, Wash., to play the Tri-City Americans on Saturday.
