On President's Day in the United States, the Portland Winterhawks laid a monumental beating on the Prince George Cougars.
The Winterhawks, one of the elite teams in the Western Hockey League, thumped the Cougars 7-2 in front of 4,631 fans at Portland's Memorial Coliseum. In the game, Ty Rattie of the Winterhawks scored twice -- including his 50th goal of the season -- and added an assist.
Portland led 3-1 after the first period and scored three unanswered goals in the middle frame. The Cougars finally showed some life in the third period. They generated 16 shots and scored once -- the goal by Daulton Siwak -- but it was a classic case of too little, too late.
"I think we over-respected them, maybe, to start the game," said Cougars head coach Dean Clark. "They're a very good club but we've just got to come and play hard and leave it all on the rink and I think the first 30 minutes we were guilty of watching them play and standing back."
Sven Bartschi also finished with two goals for the Winterhawks. Other Portland markers were provided by Chase De Leo, Joseph Morrow and Brendan Leipsic. Troy Bourke netted the first-period goal for the Cats.
The Cougars were outshot 20-6 in the second period and 50-29 overall. Portland, which entered the game with the league's second-best power-play, went 3-for-6 with the man advantage. The Cougars were 0-for-4.
Starting Prince George goaltender Drew Owsley, who didn't have strong defensive coverage in front of him, was replaced by Devon Fordyce after the fifth Portland goal. Owsley faced 24 shots.
Portland improved to 41-15-2-1 and jumped past the Tri-City Americans into second place in the Western Conference. The Cougars (19-37-0-2) remained last in the conference, one point behind the Everett Silvertips and two back of the eighth-place Victoria Royals.
The Cougars will get another shot at the Winterhawks tonight in Portland.
