They shouldda, they couldda, but the Prince George Cougars didn't.
Two periods good, one period bad -- it all added up to a 7-4 loss to the Portland Winterhawks Saturday night in Portland.
The Cats did just about everything right through 40 minutes. They were doing the things that make coaches happy -- they cleared their own zone effectively with simple plays, they blocked shots, they cleared rebounds, they won the physical battles, and they unleashed a shooting gallery at Portland goalie Mac Carruth. Leading 36-12 on the shot clock, they were still tied on the scoreboard 3-3, and that was the fatal undoing of the Cougars, who suffered a season-high fifth straight loss.
The Winterhawks scored late in the second period to chase goalie James Priestner, whose replacement, Ty Rimmer, gave up the next four goals, all in the third period, as the 'Hawks swept the two-game weekend series in front of 10,558 fans at the Rose Garden on Teddy Bear Toss Night.
"It was a 7-4 score but it wasn't a 7-4 game," said Cougars head coach Dean Clark, who coached his 800th career WHL regular season game Saturday.
"We outshot them 48-26 and we did a lot of really good things for 40 minutes. It should have probably been 4-1 or 5-1 after the the second period and it was 3-3. We did some really solid things against a very good club and had them frustrated -- for 40 minutes. The thing is we shouldn't have been tied. We let them hang around and they gave it to us in the third."
Defenceman Joe Morrow led Portland with a goal and two assists, and singles went to Ty Rattie, Oliver Gabriel, Spencer Bennett, Riley Boychuk, Taylor Peters, and Derrick Pouliot. James Dobrowolski, Nick Buonassisi,Greg Fraser and Jaroslav Vlach, with his first of the season, scored for the Cougars.
Clark wasn't avoiding what has become a concern of late for the Cougars -- their goaltending.
"Our guys are working hard and, again, it's the goals that are going in that are hurting us," Clark said. "We just need better goaltending. When (Rimmer) came in, he did a pretty good job actually. The goals they got, the fourth one (Boychuk's) was a deflection, and the fifth one (Peters's game winner) we cough it up and it was a 2-on-0. The wheels just kind of fell off there."
The Portland power play went 3-for-4, while the Cats came up empty in seven chances, including a 5-on-3 chance in the third period.
The loss, combined with the Chilliwack Bruins 4-1 win in Medicine Hat, left the Cougars (15-14-2-1) tied with the Bruins for third place in the B.C. Division, just one point ahead of fifth-place Kamloops but only two behind first-place Vancouver.
The Cats will try to end their skid when they begin an eight-game homestand Tuesday at CN Centre against the Swift Current Broncos.
