The Prince George Cougars did score a power play goal but they lost the special teams battle and settled for just a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Tri-City Americans.
The Americans erased a 3-1 deficit by scoring twice in the third period and adding the only two goals in the shootout from Nolan Yaremko and Isaac Johnson to sweep the doubleheader (Tri-City won Tuesday’s game 5-1).
Tri-City was two-for-four (2/4) and Prince George one-for-six (1/6) with the man-advantage Wednesday night before 2,130 fans, the smallest crowd of the season at the CN Centre.
The Cougars failed to score on a five-minute power play late in the first after Tri-City lost forward Blake Stevenson to a headshot major and game misconduct for a hit on Jackson Leppard.
The 18-year-old Leppard ended up not missing a shift.
PG also failed to connect on back-to-back power plays in the third and they finished overtime playing four-on-three.
Cole Moberg and Josh Maser tallied to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead after one.
Rhett Rhinehart scored with the man advantage in the second for the Cats, but the P.G. power play is a WHL worst 8.9% on the season (5/56).
The Cougars outshot the Americans for the second straight night (33-29), but Tri-City extended it win streak to four.
The 8-4 Americans are 3-0 on an 11-game road trip.
The Cats lost forward Ilijah Colina after the first period due to an undisclosed injury.
Prince George is third in the BC Division, two points ahead of the 5-10 Kelowna Rockets and five points in front of the 3-6-0-1 Kamloops Blazers.
The 5-6-0-2 Cougars visit the Kelowna on Saturday.
SCORING SUMMARY:
Cougars – Cole Moberg (1G, 1A), Josh Maser (1G), Rhett Rhinehart (1G), Brendan Boyle (1A), Ethan Browne (1A), Ilijah Colina (1A), Josh Curtis (1A)
Americans – Isaac Johnson (2A), Sam Stewart (2A), Parker AuCoin (1G), Krystof Hrabik (1G), Nolan Yaremko (1G), Sasha Mutala (1A)
GOALTENDING:
Cougars – Isaiah DiLaura (Loss) 65:00 (26/29)
Americans – Beck Warm (Win) 65:00 (30/33)
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