Alberta hospitality isn't all it's cracked up to be.
The Calgary Hitmen were anything but congenial hosts Friday night when the Prince George Cougars came calling for their one and only WHL meeting between the teams this season.
The Hitmen scored four unanswered goals and went home with a 4-1 victory which ended a three-game losing streak for them. That extended the Cougars' skid to a season-high five games without a victory.
The Cougars (16-25-3-2) started the game 10th in the Western Conference, two points behind the eighth-place Seattle Thunderbirds, who hold the second wild-card playoff spot. The T-birds hosted the Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday night.
The Hitmen (22-19-3-1) solidified their wild-card position and are now four points ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who lost 4-0 Friday in Regina.
Tyson Upper opened the scoring right at the end of a Calgary power play at 18:52 of the first period. The 17-year-old Calgary native forced a turnover in the Cougars' end and chipped the puck ahead to Jackson Leppard to create a 2-on-1 break. Leppard sent a high pass over to Upper and the puck deflected off his shinpad and into the net for his third goal of the season.
The Hitmen tied it 13 minutes into the second period after a turnover in the Cougars' end. Dakota Krebs pinched in from the blueline and used his leg to stop a clearing attempt along the boards and Josh Prokop fed the puck to Luke Coleman who scored on a one-timer.
Calgary scored again with 29 seconds left in the period. James Malm carried the puck into the zone and used a Cougar defenceman as a partial screen as he let go a wrist shot that beat goalie Taylor Gauthier.
The Hitmen added to the count in the third period, scoring on a 5-on-3 advantage. With Joel Lakusta off for holding and Matej Toman serving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Mark Kastelic converted on a pass into the goalmouth for his 30th of the season at 6:35.
Late in the game the Cougars had a 6-on-4 chance while on the power play with Gauthier on the bench but Cale Zimmerman quashed any hopes of a comeback when he came out of the box and scored into the empty net.
Gauthier, in his first game action since playing for Team Cherry in the CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game Wednesday in Red Deer, made 44 saves in his return to his hometown.
Jack McNaughton blocked 33 shots in between the pipes for Calgary.
LOOSE PUCKS: Cougars captain Josh Curtis, 20, played his 200th career WHL game Friday.... The Cougars' Fan Bus was there in full force with a group of Cougar parents and family members taking up a section of the Scotiabank Saddledome.... The Cougars move on to Red Deer, where they'll play the Rebels tonight (6 p.m. PT).They finish their three-game trip Sunday in Edmonton (3 p.m. PT) against the division-leading Oil Kings.... The Cougars are on the road next weekend with games in Kamloops and Vancouver. They'll host the Vancouver Giants in back-to-back games in a midweek set at CN Centre Feb. 5-6.... Cougars LW Josh Maser served the second of a three-game suspension for an illegal hit against Kamloops last Sunday. D Cole Beamin was a healthy scratch. The Hitmen were without D Egor Zamula (suspended), C Jake Kryski (upper-body injury) and LW Riley Fiddler-Schultz (healthy).
