Special teams were the difference in the Prince George Cougars 4-3 loss to the Blazers Saturday night in Kamloops, extending their losing streak to three games.
The home team culminated a power-play and short-handed tally to stun the Cats within the first half of the first period, both in under two minutes.
However, Prince George would rally back in the middle frame, thanks to forward Josh Curtis, his second of the season, and Captain Dennis Cholowski just 2:12 later.
Since his captaincy announcement on Tuesday, Cholowski has recorded four points in three games (1G, 3A).
After both teams held the score to a 2-2 draw through 40 minutes of play, Kamloops would catch the Cougars on a costly line change, netting the game-winning goal with six minutes left.
The Blazers would add an empty-netter before rookie Chance Adrian made the game interesting with his first career WHL goal.
However, it came with six seconds left in regulation, leaving no time for the offense to register a shot on opposing goaltender Dylan Ferguson.
FINAL:
Cougars come back from 2-0 down but Kamloops pulls it out late. @ChanceAdrian scored his first @TheWHL goal in the 3rd. @Kelowna_Rockets on deck Wednesday.#WHL #CityofPG pic.twitter.com/sYIQXwXhKK— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) November 26, 2017
On 94.3 the GOAT’s post-game show, Cougars Associate Head Coach Steve O’Rourke believes his team had good opportunities, but just couldn’t finish.
“It’s that tough time of year in looking at the end of the first half of the season, and we can’t pat guys on the back in a game like this and say ‘good job.’ We generated some good offense, but again, we can’t be satisfied by being close. Each night, we just need to find a way to get those points and get back up in the standings.”
Moving forward, O’Rourke adds the boys will have get back to having a good practice in applying their skills in game-time mode.
“Hopefully we’ll shore up some of these little details that we’re missing with our line changes and compete level right from the start of the game. It’s about getting that good mental mind-set, and it’s not about negativity, it’s about trying to find those positive signs and improving on those skills for future games.
PG netminder Tavin Grant made 26 saves on 29 shots in his seventh loss of the year.
The Cougars drop their record to 9-12-2-2, falling to fifth place in the BC Division standings as Kamloops continues their win streak to four games.
Prince George will complete its brief two-game road trip through the Okanagan Wednesday, 7:05PM against the Kelowna Rockets.
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