The Prince George Cougars are still looking for a magic elixir to cure their goal-scoring woes.
Heading into their game Friday at CN Centre against the Tri-City Americans, having played just one game in two weeks, the Cougars thought having all that time to fine tune in practice would do wonders for their point production.
If Friday's result was any indication, they'd better go back to the drawing board.
Despite their best efforts to kickstart an anemic offence which now has just eight goals in four games, the Cougars were unable to find many gaps in the armour of Americans goalie Evan Sarthou, who made 31 saves in a 5-2 victory.
The Cougars (1-3-0-0) have an abundance of battle-tested veterans expected to push the team into the upper reaches of the WHL's B.C. Division, but so far this season, they've failed to deliver. While it's still early in the season, their loss to the Americans (3-1-0-0) left the Cougars searching for answers.
They lost this one in the second period. Just 28 seconds into the period, Brandon Carlo used his six-foot-five leverage to unleash a high point shot which fooled Mack Shields. The Americans' power play cashed in their second power-play chance after some fine puck movement with 3:28 gone. Defenceman Juuso Valimaki took the shot from close range and got his stick on the puck before it trickled through the pads of Shields.
Sarthou was at his best in the middle frame and held up to the onslaught as the Cougars outshot the visitors 17-6. He stopped Chase Witala on a breakaway midway through the period with a great pad save and that was a sign of more clutch saves to come from the 18-year-old netminder.
The Cougars had their chances on a 31-second two-man advantage but Sarthou wasn't biting and with every stop you could sense the Cats' frustration growing.
Trailing by two goals with nine minutes left in the game, Jansen Harkins, who led the Cougars in scoring last year, finally picked up his first goal and second point of the season, pounding in a rebound. But the Americans responded two minutes later. Sixteen-year-old centre Kyle Olson took advantage of a fat rebound given up by Shields and batted the puck in for his first WHL goal to restore their two-goal lead.
Beau McCue added to the total late, shooting into an open net after a bullet shot from Michael Rasmussen left Shields flat on his stomach in pain.
The Cats opened the scoring 14:57 into the game. Jesse Gabrielle used linemate Witala as a decoy and dragged the puck into the slot and let go a quick snapper past Sarthou for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Americans captain Parker Bowles evened the count a couple minutes later on the power play. The Cougars had two false celebrations, one in the first period after a slick deke into the crease by Brogan O'Brien, and the other a second-period jam-in attempt from Bartek Bison. Each time, video review confirmed the initial call by the on-ice officials.
Shots ended up 33-25 in favour of the Cougars. Special teams were a factor in the outcome. The Americans went 2-for-5 on the power play while P.G. was held scoreless on four chances.
The rematch is set for tonight at 7.
LOOSE PUCKS: Shields played in his 100th WHL game. The 20-year-old goalie played three seasons with the Calgary Hitmen and was picked up on waivers by the Cougars over the summer... Three Cougars made their season debuts Friday. C Tyler Mrkonjic and D Shane Collins returned from lower-body injuries while LW Kolby Johnson was called into service after missing the first three games as a healthy scratch.
