Friday night in Portland, Oregon the Prince George Cougars lengthy nine game regulation unbeaten streak came to an end in heart-breaking fashion. With less than 13 minutes remaining in the third period the Portland Winterhawks scored three unanswered goals, the last of which came with 48 seconds left in the third lifting Portland to a 5-4 victory over the Cougars handing them just their first loss in regulation since November 18^th in Calgary. A tough pill to swallow for a Cougars team that twice led by two goals. But the mark of a good team is how they respond to adversity, and thankfully Mark Holick’s team doesn’t have to wait long at all to try and get some revenge. Tonight in the same city, in the same rink the Prince George Cougars have the chance to get back into the win column when they battle the Portland Winterhawks once again for the fourth and final time in 2014-15.

PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS

Overview:

Jamie Kompon’s Portland Winterhawks are heading into tonight’s rematch with an overall record of 15-14-0-0. They’ve won two in a row and have erased third period deficits in each of their past two victories, which has to help their confidence. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and are 1-2 this season against the Cougars. Last night’s victory against the Cougars was the first home-ice victory for Portland since February, 2014.

Who’s Up Front:

With two goals last night and three goals earlier in the week against Everett, 20-year-old import forward Rihards Bukarts has been red hot for the Winterhawks and has shown a flare for the dramatic coming up with some timely goals in big moments for his team. Add the fact that the likes of Dominic Turgeon and Alex Schoenborn all recorded multi-point games as well meaning that they will be coming into tonight’s rematch feeling confident offensively. Keeping those big three in check tonight will be a major key for the Cougars.

Who’s on D:

Defensively last night the Winterhawks were led by 19-year-old Jack Dougherty. Though he’s technically a WHL rookie, the Nashville Predators prospect is no stranger to big games and big moments having played a year at the University of Wisconsin and also had 23 games with the U.S. National Under-18 team a season prior. Last night against the Cougars he had two assists and was a +3 and logged major minutes for the Winterhawks in all situations. He along with Caleb Jones and Blake Heinrich will likely continue to log the most minutes for the Winterhawks as they look to become the first team to sweep the Cougars in a weekend double header this season.

Who’s in Goal:

Arizona Coyotes prospect Adin Hill faced 42 Cougars shots and turned aside 38 of them last night to pick up his 14^th victory of the season. Is he happy about surrendering four goals? No. But did he make some major timely saves when the game was close to either keep his team tied or to keep his team within striking distance? Absolutely. Hill is a major work horse for Portland having dressed and played in 26 of their 29 games this season. Look for him to once again get the nod tonight for the Winterhawks in the rematch with Prince George.

X-Factor:

Last night a crowd of 4454 played a huge role in helping the Winterhawks to victory, and tonight it’s only going to be magnified as the Winterhawks are expecting a near sell out because of their Teddy Bear Toss game. That means it’s going to be even more intimidating and more hostile and frankly the Cougars have two choices: They can either embrace the hate and embrace the noise or they can let it effect them negatively. With two goals in the first 1:23 of the game last night the Cougars did a perfect job of silencing the Portland crowd early. Tonight it will be big for the Cougars to not only silence the crowd but to keep the crowd at bay for as long as possible.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars have no reason to feel down about themselves. Sure the loss last night stung, and in a weird way that could be a good thing. Because many athletes and coaches will often say, “I hate losing more than I like winning.” That’s the type of fire and mentality that this team will need to have tonight. Despite their first regulation loss in nearly a month the Cougars record is still solid at 18-10-1-1. They are eight points ahead of their pace from a season ago, and despite losing last night there were many glaring positives from their game that they need to continue to build on. Great teams always find ways to respond to adversity, and tonight will be a major character tester for the Cougars as they get the same opponent, in the same rink, with a similar (if not more) hostile environment. The Cougars are 8-1-0-1 in their past 10 games and are 2-1 on the season against Portland.

Who’s Up Front:

Unfortunately Chase Witala was unable to secure his third consecutive hat-trick, but he sure came close scoring twice in the first minute and 23 seconds of the game to launch his team to the early lead. Witala now has eight goals in his past three games along and over his past six games he has put together a stretch of nine goals and three assists for 12 points. He and linemates Brogan O’Brien and Jesse Gabrielle continue to supply steady offense for the Cougars and tonight you can bet that they will be counted upon again to do the same thing. Especially in the midst of adversity, you need your best players to rise up and be the best. Tonight the Cougars ‘top six’ forwards will need to make sure that they are ready to go in all situations.

Who’s on D:

Defensively the Cougars had their share of ups and downs last night, but again one tough loss shouldn’t negate an otherwise very positive season defensively so far for the Cougars. Collective the Cougars have a goal differential of +14 and while there are still 42 games remaining in the season, the Cougars appear well on their way to having a positive goal differential for the first time since 2006-07. The Portland Winterhawks are relentless offensively, they work extremely hard and they’ve got a few players like Bukarts, Turgeon and Schoenborn who will make you pay when you make mistakes. Tonight marks the chance for the Cougars to respond with their best foot forward defensively. It’ll be important for the Cougars to embrace the defensive challenge tonight as they’ll look to keep those Portland teddy bears off the ice for as long as possible.

Who’s in Goal:

Ty Edmonds has been so good for the Cougars this season that one less-than-stellar performance between the pipes isn’t going to have a huge negative effect in the grand scheme of things. The Winterhawks have made a big habit of giving lots of goaltenders tough nights in recent seasons, and unfortunately last night it was simply Edmonds’ turn. Tonight, it will likely be Nick McBride’s turn and all he’s done is post three consecutive road victories for the Prince George Cougars. He’s a very calm and very focused individual and he’s exactly the type of goaltender that you’d like to have go for you in a tough situation like tonight, because he can revel in the challenge of trying to keep the Teddy Bears in the stands for as long as possible. The Cougars NEED an ‘A+’ performance in goal tonight, and if they get one, they’re going to give themselves every opportunity to earn the split this weekend in Portland.

X-Factor:

Mental toughness is going to be a major key to the Cougars success this evening in Portland. The crowd is going to be insane, and the Winterhawks are going to be coming into the game with most of the momentum and confidence having earned back-to-back come-from-behind victories. For the Cougars tonight, again it’s all about embracing the challenge and not backing down from the noise, and not backing down from the challenge that lies ahead of them. You don’t go nine games without a regulation loss by accident. This Cougars team is confident too, and tonight they’ll need every ounce of that confidence both physically and mentally to earn the victory tonight.