Three goals in three games.
That’s all the goal-starved Prince George Cougars could manage in their weekend tour of the WHL Central Division and that’s not a recipe for winning hockey. Not in any league.
The Cougars are the lowest-scoring team in the Western Hockey League and their scoring woes continued Sunday afternoon in Edmonton where they lost 2-1 to the Oil Kings, which extended the Cats’ losing streak to seven games.
A second-period lull by the Cougars led to turnovers and goals 2:07 apart from Oil Kings defenceman Conner McDonald and that’s all the offence Edmonton needed to overpower the Cats, playing their third game in less than three days.
Vladislav Mikhalchuk gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period, scoring on a power-play pass out of the corner from defenceman Joel Lakusta.
McDonald tied it 6:48 into the second when he stole the puck deep in Edmonton territory and took off up the right side, skating the length of the ice until he let go a shot from a sharp angle that went in under the arm of goalie Taylor Gauthier. The winning goal came during an Oil Kings’ power play at 8:55, a one-timer from the point from McDonald that sailed through a tangle of bodies in front of Gauthier.
The Cougars had their chances in the third period while outshooting the Oil Kings 12-7 but were unable to beat Todd Scott, who made 27 saves in the Edmonton nets. The visitors’ late-game push for the equalizer suffered irreparable damage with 2:48 left to play when Cougars defenceman Rhett Rhinehart took an undisciplined cross-checking penalty, using his stick to push Quinn Benjafield from behind into the boards. The Cougars got Gauthier to the bench for the extra skater with 40 seconds left and had puck control in the Edmonton zone but were unable to muster any quality shots on Scott.
Shots were 32-28 in favour of the Oil Kings (26-15-4-4), who moved back into first place in the ultra-tight Central Division. Just two points separates the Oil Kings from the fourth-place Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Cougars started their trip with a 4-1 loss Friday to the Calgary Hitmen. They moved on to Red Deer Saturday night and suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Rebels.
In each of their last seven losses, the Cougars have scored two goals or less. Through 48 games they’ve scored just 105 goals, an average 2.19 per game.
They’ll try to get back on the winning side of the ledger Friday night in Kamloops against a Blazer team that’s won all five games between the teams this season.
The Cougars (16-27-3-2) remained five points behind the Kelowna Rockets, who occupy the third and final playoff spot in the B.C. Division. The Cats are still within striking distance of the Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Left winger Josh Maser returned to the Cougars’ lineup Sunday after serving a three-game suspension for a hit on Blazers defenceman Quinn Schmiemann,
Jan. 20.
Cougars top-line centre Ethan Browne missed his second game since suffering an upper-body injury in Friday’s game in Calgary.
