Shaky goaltending was the story for the Prince George Cougars Friday night, taking on a highly-skilled Lethbridge Hurricanes hockey club.
Taylor Gauthier started the game, but Isaiah DiLaura finished, resulting in a 6-2 defeat to the WHL Central Division’s second place team.
Gauthier let in four goals on 13 shots, while the third-string netminder DiLaura made 13 saves on 15 shots.
FINAL: @PGCougars lose 6-2 to @WHLHurricanes in front of 5,138 fans on #MegaJackpot Night; Josh Curtis scored 2 goals in the loss | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/ehhc5CixuQ
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) January 20, 2018
On 94.3 the GOAT’s post-game show, Cougars Head Coach Richard Matvichuk admits it was a tough night between the pipes.
“There really is no way of sugar-coating it; they both know it, and the way they both talked about it at the end of the game is what you want to see from two young kids. They took notice of it right away, so we need to simply wash this underneath the rug and move on.”
Lethbridge opened the scoring, but was followed three minutes later by one of forward Josh Curtis’ two goals in the contest, making it a 1-1 draw after the first period and bringing the more than 5,100 fans on Mega Jackpot Night to their feet.
The Hurricanes charged back with three unanswered goals in the second, including one from former Cougar and Prince George native Brad Morrison; that is, before Curtis got his second late in the frame.
.@PGCougars’ Josh Curtis gets his 2nd of the night, cutting @WHLHurricanes lead 4-2 late in the middle frame | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/KooIk2Gyv4
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) January 20, 2018
The visitors potted two more goals, one in the second and one in the third, to hand Prince George another loss, dropping their record to 17-23-4-3.
“It’s just another game is what it really comes down to,” said Curtis on goaltenders Gauthier and DiLaura.
“They had their tough bounces, but we can only go up from here. You just tap him on the pads and say ‘Hey, whatever, it’s a tough one.’ We have a younger team and if goals are going to go in like that, then we’re going to have our losses, but now it’s just a matter of where we can go from here.”
The Cougars are now tied for fourth in the BC Division with Kamloops after the Blazers defeated Calgary.
Prince George will face Lethbridge tonight, 7PM at the CN Centre before beginning a six-game Eastern Division road-trip through the Prairies.
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