It was a less-than-stellar homecoming for Tyler Brennan.
The 16-year-old came up short in a 5-1 decision on Tuesday as the Winnipeg ICE gave the Prince George Cougars the cold shoulder.
Majid Kaddoura gave the visitors their only lead of the contest scoring 2:09 into the first period, beating Winnipeg netminder Liam Hughes.
That’s as good as it would get as the ICE scored five unanswered goals with the first one coming off the stick of Michal Teply.
A look through the lens of tonights game!
GALLERY ➡️ https://t.co/VY0UXhYFAg
? – Zachary Peters pic.twitter.com/mX8MbcFJD3
— Winnipeg ICE (@WHLWpgICE) January 15, 2020
Winnipeg continued to dominate in the middle frame as Isaac Johnson potted his 15th and 16th of the season past Brennan giving the hosts a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The ICE flexed their skill even more in the third period courtesy of newly-acquired defenceman Dawson Barteaux who rippled the mesh on the power-play off of a three-way scoring play involving Johnson and Peyton Krebs.
Prince George would hear from Krebs again who put the exclamation point on the game scoring at even strength.
— Winnipeg ICE (@WHLWpgICE) January 15, 2020
Johnson (two goals, two assists), Krebs (one goal, one assist) and Benjamin Zloty (three assists) all finished with multi-point games for the ICE who improved to 26-15-1-0 on the season, which is good enough for first place in the WHL’s East Division.
The Cougars suffered their first regulation loss during a six-game road swing and drop to 11-23-3-4, eight points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Brennan made 29 saves in defeat while Hughes corralled 21 PG shots in the win.
Former Cougar Jackson Leppard recorded one assist in his first game against his old team after being dealt to Winnipeg in October.
Since joining the ICE, Leppard has found his offensive stroke, putting up 26 points in 32 games.
The deal saw the Cougars acquire 19-year-old blueliner Marco Creta (one assist in 28 games) and 18-year-old forward Holden Kodak who is no longer with the team and has since joined the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.
However, the Cougars could win the trade in the long-term as they also collected two third-round bantam picks and a conditional fifth-round selection.
Ex-Cariboo Cougar and PG Spruce Kings affiliate player Aidan Reeves suited up for the Cougars after being called up by the WHL club following the conclusion of the trade deadline.
The Brandon Wheat Kings (21-17-1-2) play the Cats Wednesday at 5:00 (Pacific Time) from Westoba Place.
Prince George will conclude its road trip Friday in Moose Jaw.
Fraser Rodgers will have the play-by-play on 94.3 The Goat.
PG 1 WPG 5
TC 1 VIC 3
REG 4 POR 9
KAM 6 SPO 3— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 15, 2020