The Prince George Cougars, losers of six of their past seven games, were looking to give themselves a reason to celebrate on Tuesday night in Kent, Wash. The Seattle Thunderbirds - not so hot themselves lately - seemed to present an ideal opportunity for the Cats to pick up a couple much-needed points in the Western Hockey League standings.
Instead, the Cougars have now dropped seven of eight, largely because they couldn't limit the damage done by Nolan Volcan and Zack Andrusiak.
In a 6-5 Seattle victory, Volcan and Andrusiak combined for five goals and nine points. Volcan struck for a hat trick and one helper, while Andrusiak notched a pair of goals and three assists.
The Cougars led 3-2 after the first period but trailed 5-4 after the second. Each team scored once in the third. Volcan got what proved to be the winning goal half way through the final period while the Thunderbirds were on a power play. Josh Maser drew the Cougars into a one-goal deficit with two minutes left to play but the Cougars got no closer.
Matej Toman opened the scoring early in the first period but Andrusiak quickly drew the T-birds even. After that, the Cougars got back-to-back markers from Jackson Leppard (on a power play) and Vladislav Mikhalchuk, but Volcan scored before the period was done.
Just 47 seconds into the middle frame, Jarret Tyszka tied the score 3-3 and his goal was rapidly followed by one from Volcan. Andrusiak then connected on a Seattle power play for a 5-3 T-birds' lead. Mikhalchuk, with his 11th goal of the season, got the Cougars back within one, and that set the stage for the third period.
Seattle outshot Prince George 43-29. The T-birds were 2-for-4 on power plays and the Cougars were 1-for-3. Liam Hughes was the winning goaltender and Taylor Gauthier took the loss.
The Thunderbirds entered Tuesday's game having lost 12 of their past 15. With Tuesday's result, they improved to 11-14-3-0. The Cougars, meanwhile, dropped to 11-17-1-2 and fell to last place in the Western Conference, behind Seattle. The teams are tied in points (25) but the T-birds have played three fewer games.
The Cougars continue their five-game pre-Christmas road trip on Friday night in Victoria. They'll also play in Vancouver on Sunday and then break for the holiday. They'll resume their schedule on Dec. 28 in back in Kent against the Thunderbirds, will skate in Everett on Dec. 29 and in Kamloops on Dec. 30.
