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Third-period collapse dooms Cougars to cruel OT fate

You have to feel for the Prince George Cougars. Just when they were about to land one of the big fish in the Western Hockey League pool, they got caught breaking the rules.

You have to feel for the Prince George Cougars.
Just when they were about to land one of the big fish in the Western Hockey League pool, they got caught breaking the rules.
They had a 3-1 lead over the Portland Winter Hawks in the third period Wednesday night at CN Centre and let it slip away, allowing three straight goals, two on Portland power plays, and needed a dramatic goalie-on-the-bench equalizer from Vladislav Mikhalchuk to salvage a point.
Ultimately, the Cougars fell 5-4 in overtime, much to the disappointment of a home crowd of 1,785. Clay Hanus, 2:36 into the 3-on-3 OT period, fired the dagger that gave the Winterhawks their second win over the Cougars in consecutive nights, after a 3-0 triumph on Tuesday.
Penalties made all the difference Wednesday and the Winterhawks took advantage, going 3-for-5 on the power play, while the Cats managed just one in five chances.
"It was a game within a game, they won the special teams game and I think our 5-on-5 game was very competitive and we did a lot of good things," said Cougars associate coach Jason Smith. "We made a couple mistakes 5-on-5 that cost us but our penalty kill needs to be better. We got great goaltending but their power play was better than our penalty killing, which gave them the game."  
After getting thoroughly outplayed Tuesday the Cougars came out with a much better effort in the rematch and built a 2-0 lead midway through on goals from Josh Maser and Nikita Krivokrasov, his first since joining the Cougars Nov. 19 in a trade from the Tri-City Americans.
Robbie Fromm-Delorme scored on a Portland power play a couple minutes after Krivakrasov's goal but former Winterhawk Ilijah Colina answered with his third goal of the season three minutes into the third period. The Cougars' troubles started not long after that, with Cats' winger Reid Perepeluk serving a kneeing penalty, when Seth Jarvis one-timed a Matthew Quigley pass from behind the net too cut the lead to 3-2.
A couple of turnovers led to the tying goal from 'Hawks captain Johnny Ludvig and seconds after that the Cougars were back on the penalty kill when Perepeluk shot the puck over the glass. Not a minute later, Reece Newkirk's toe-drag, high-shot finish clanked the crossbar and went down and in behind goalie Taylor Gauthier. The Cougars salvaged a point with the extra skater when, with 56.9 seconds left, Mikhalchuk batted in a rebound.
"When you're taking a penalty out in the neutral zone or 200 feet from your net, those are the ones that come back and bite you," said Smith. "They have a lot of skilled guys and when they get a power play the momentum changes. When you're a team like ours that's struggling to gain traction, you need to keep the momentum for as long as you can."
Joel Hofer made 27 saves to earn the victory. Portland outshot Prince George 36-30.
The loss was the 11th in 13 games for the Cougars (6-18-1-2), who remained last in the Western Conference. The Winterhawks (18-6-1-2) needed the win to remain two points ahead of the Everett Silvertips, 3-1 winners over the Hurricanes Wednesday in Lethbridge.
Both teams boarded buses after their post-game meals for the 14-hour drive to Portland, Ore., where they meet again Saturday and Sunday. The Cougars will be back at CN Centre next weekend to face the Victoria Royals, their final home games before the Christmas break. The Cougars' Teddy and Toque Toss promotion is on Saturday, Dec. 14.