Their special teams were anything but special and they had to rely a bit too much on goaltender Ty Edmonds to save the day.
But Edmonds was equal to the task and the bottom line was the Prince George Cougars found a way to win Tuesday night in Kelowna to remain top dogs in the Western Hockey League.
Their 4-2 win over the Rockets was their fourth in four games this season against Kelowna, yet another two points stolen away from a B.C. Division opponent.
The Cougars planned to take steps in practice today to address the fact their power play looked a disorganized mess in five wasted opportunities and their penalty-killers allowed two goals in four Kelowna chances.
Good teams find ways to overcome their deficiencies and the Cougars (16-4-2-0), despite falling to fifth this week in the Canadian Hockey League national ranking, are still clicking at a franchise-best clip as they take aim at the Prince Albert Raiders, their CN Centre opponents Friday night.
"As a 20-year-old goalie in this league you have to be on top of your game and Ty was really, really good early on - he made some saves out of nowhere and it was great to see and he gave us a chance," said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk. "We didn't come out the way we wanted in the first five to eight minutes of the first (period) but once we settled in and got our game underneath us I thought we were pretty good."
Matvichuk has worked wonders this season with Cougars forwards Colby McAuley and Aaron Boyd and they teamed up with Josh Curtis Tuesday night in Kelowna for one of their most productive games of the season. That line finished with eight points. McAuley, 20, collected two goals and an assist. He showed his unselfish nature in the dying seconds when he passed up a shot at an empty net and a chance for his first WHL hat trick when he fed the puck to Boyd for the fourth Cougar goal. Matvichuk said McAuley and Boyd are now drawing interest from NHL scouts.
All three members of that line ended up a plus-3 for the night. Boyd had a goal and an assist and Curtis ended up with three assists.
"They're doing the little things, they're chipping pucks in, they're being aggressive and using their speed and size to their advantage and being physical," said Matvichuk. "We feel that if we play the game the way we should then guys like that are going to succeed in our system and (Tuesday) night was a perfect example. They got pucks deep and went to the corners and got rewarded for it.
"We've changed the culture here where guys are having fun and enjoying the game and don't get me wrong, our record helps a lot. Everybody has a role on our team and not everybody is going to play their best game every night so if somebody isn't playing their best we hope someone else steps in and does their best and that's what's been happening."
The Cougars' most recent road trip got off to shaky start a week ago in a 4-2 loss to Vancouver, but they came back Saturday in Kamloops with a 7-0 shutout of the Blazers, one of their most complete games of the season.
The Raiders lost in Kamloops and Victoria and were defeated 5-3 Wednesday in Vancouver, but Matvichuk promised the Cougars will not be taking them lightly. The Cats will try to improve on their 9-2-1-0 home ice record.
"They're a hardworking team and their record doesn't reflect what kind of a team they are," said Matvichuk, who watched the Raiders in Kamloops. "They played well in Victoria and had a couple of bad bounces or it could have been a different game. We have to establish our home territory here really soon and make thus a very hard place to play."
The Cougars will be without their captain, 20-year-old defenceman Sam Ruopp, who still has four games left to serve in an eight-game suspension for his fight with Medicine Hat forward Steven Owre. Otherwise, the Cougars are healthy going into the Prince Albert game.
"They threw the book at Sam and some things you can try and argue and other things you can't," said Matvichuk. "We felt eight games was pretty a little hefty but we'll do our time served and get back to work."
