WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Score but not Enough in Loss to Edmonton

Published on November 20, 2019 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


Prince George Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg (2) digs for the puck against the Edmonton Oil Kings
Prince George Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg (2) digs for the puck against the Edmonton Oil Kings
(Prince George Cougars, Credit: Brett Cullen)

PRINCE GEORGE, BC- The Prince George Cougars ended their lengthy goalless streak but were on the wrong side of another one-goal game Tuesday, falling 3-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the CN Centre.

Trailing 1-0 at the start of the second, Mitch Kohner and Cole Moberg scored to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead however, the Oil Kings scored twice in under five-minutes to retake the lead late in the frame and they never looked back.

Jake Neighbours, David Kope and Matthew Robertson scored for the Oil Kings who started their five-game B.C. Division road trip with a win. It was their first win in four games after going winless in their previous three (0-2-0-1). Rookie goaltender Sebastian Cossa stopped 22 of 24 shots for the win in the Edmonton crease.

Taylor Gauthier turned aside 33 of 36 shots at the other end of the rink, as he was saddled with the loss. Gauthier was at his best in the first period where he stopped 17 of 18 shots.

Kohner's goal two-minutes into the second period was the Cougars' first since the first period of their game on November 9th against Victoria. A goalless draught that last nearly 200 minutes. It only took them nine minutes to score a second when Moberg made it 2-1 midway through the second frame.

Edmonton responded quickly however, as Kope muscled his shot over Gauthier's glove 58-seconds after the Cougars' took their first lead. Then, Robertson scored the eventual game-winner four minutes after that.

The power-play went 0-5 and General Manager & Head Coach Mark Lamb cited that as the difference in the loss, "The power-play wasn't good enough. We needed a goal, we needed to generate momentum from it, and we didn't do neither. It cost us."

Tuesday was the Cougars' fifth one-goal loss in their eight-game winless streak (0-7-0-1). Captain Josh Maser says his team will need to keep pushing to get the offensive turned around, "We need to battle, get to those dirty areas and get those second and third opportunities. We have to stick with it. It will come."

Game Notes: Forward Nikita Krivokrasov made his Cougars' debut Tuesday. Defenceman Marco Creta picked up his point since being acquired from the Winnipeg ICE. He assisted on Cougars' first goal. The power-play has now gone 0-15 in the last five games.

Next Up: The Cougars (4-16-0-2) are back in action Friday night when they open a weekend doubleheader at the CN Centre against the Kamloops Blazers (14-7-0-0). Single game tickets start at just $13. Tickets are available at the Treasure Cove Casino box office at the CN Centre, or online at www.ticketsnorth.ca

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period Oil Kings [1-0] Jake Neighbours (5). Assists: Dylan Guenther 16:21

Second Period

Cougars [1-1] Mitch Kohner (4). Assists: Tyson Upper, Marco Creta 2:16

Cougars [2-1] Cole Moberg (4). Assists: Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Josh Maser 11:11

Oil Kings [2-2] David Kope (6). Assists: Vladimir Alistrov, Ethan Cap 12:08

Oil Kings [3-2] Matthew Robertson (5). Assists: Josh Williams, Dylan Guenther 16:45

Third Period

No Scoring.

Power-Play

Cougars- 0/5

Oil Kings - 0/4

Shots

Cougars- 24

Oil Kings- 36

Three Stars: 1) Matthew Robertson 2) Cole Moberg 3) Dylan Guenther

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics




Images from this story

Prince George Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg (2) digs for the puck against the Edmonton Oil Kings
Prince George Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg (2) digs for the puck against the Edmonton Oil Kings
(Brett Cullen)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from November 20, 2019


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