The Prince George Cougars witnessed firsthand the lethal power play of the Portland Winterhawks.
Tuesday night in Portland, the Winterhawks struck for three man-advantage goals in a 5-1 victory in a WHL Western Conference clash.
It was Portlands 18th win in a row as they remain atop the Western Conference at
43-12-2.
The Cougars remain two points out of a playoff spot at 29-30-3-5.
The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and the Winterhawks led 2-1 after the second. Portland got an insurance goal from Keegan Iverson early in the third and then put the game away with a power-play tally by Derrick Pouliot, his second of the night.
The Cougars opened the scoring at 6:49 of the first when Todd Fiddler deflected home a Marc McNulty point shot. The goal, a power-play marker, was Fiddlers milestone 40th of the season.
The Winterhawks had a chance to tie the game about five minutes later when Brendan Leipsic was awarded a penalty shot after he was impeded by Prince George defenceman Raymond Grewal while on a breakaway. However, goalie Ty Edmonds foiled Leipsics deke attempt.
Portland did level the score with 11 seconds left in the opening period when Oliver Bjorkstrand converted on a power play.
The Winterhawks also scored in the dying moments of the second period and took a 2-1 lead. This time, Pouliot - again on a power play - did the damage.
Tyson Predinchuk scored Portlands fifth goal in the third period.
Prince George could not capitalize on any of their scoring chances in the third. Edmonds stopped 32 of 37 shots, while his Portland counterpart Corbin Boes made 30 saves.
Prince George returns home this weekend for a two-game set against the Kelowna Rockets (46-8-4) Friday and Saturday at CN Centre.
