Oil Kings Down Cougars 5-2

Saturday, February 06, 2010 11:01 PM

What the Prince George Cougars did on Friday night, the Edmonton Oil Kings countered with on Saturday. The Oil Kings broke open a close game late in the second period with four goals in a 2:06 span, en route to a 5-2 win and a split of the weekend double header at CN Centre.

The Cougars opened the twin bill with a 4-1 win Friday, which snapped the team's 13 game winless drought. But the Oil Kings sent a message early in game two that it wouldn't be quite as simple to get another victory. Cam Maclise opened the scoring for the Oil Kings just 58 seconds into the hockey game, gathering his own rebound in front of the Cougars goal and beating Hudson Stremmel on the glove side. The Oil Kings were in full control of the first period, but with the teams skating four a side, the Cougars finally found not just a spark, but the tying goal. Nick Buonassisi went to the front of the Oil Kings net after winning a face-off to the left of Oil Kings starting netminder Torrie Jung. Garrett Thiessen let go of a shot from the blue line that Buonassisi was able to deflect past Jung, who reached to his left, but was beaten on his right side. Thiessen drew the lone assist for back-to-back games with a helper for the Cougars Captain. Buonassisi, meanwhile, earned his 13th goal of the year at 13:37 of the first frame, giving the 17-year old 10 points in his last seven games. Stremmel was terrific in the first period for the Cougars in goal, blocking 17 of 18 shots, while Jung dealt with seven shots from the Cougars.

In the second period, more of the same for the Oil Kings, who continued to apply the pressure on the Cougars. The Cougars did start to level the game off for a couple of minutes in the second half of the period, but the Oil King's Robin Soudek would get the visitor's the lead again at 15:55, picking up a loose puck in the slot and beating Stremmel between the legs for his 7th of the year. Just 50 seconds later, the Cougars turned the puck over in the Edmonton zone, which led to a 3-on-2 rush. Garry Nunn took a drop pass, then wired a shot under Stremmel's blocker hand for a 3-1 Edmonton lead. Sebastian Svendson needed just 10 seconds to put the Oil Kings up 4-1, when he rifled a slap shot past Stremmel from the left face-off circle, again caused by a Cougars turn-over at their own blue line. The bleeding continued at 18:01, when TJ Foster scored his 6th of the year on a power play, to give the Oil Kings a 5-1 lead, which they would take to the dressing room. Edmonton had a 15-9 advantage in shots in the second period.

Parker Stanfield had the only goal of the third period at 9:17, after solid work down low by he and his linemates, Clarke Breitkreuz and Spencer Asuchak. Both getting helpers on Stanfield's 8th of the year, after Breitkreuz fed him a pass from behind the goal line. With the assist, Breitkreuz extended his point streak to four games and Asuchak has a three game streak. That line was easily the best of the night for the Cougars, who fall 5-2, getting out-shot 7-5 in the third and 40-21 in the game. The Cougars went 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Oil Kings were 1-for-6.

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 10-41-1-2 and will get set for three games in four nights, starting with a date against the Kamloops Blazers Wednesday night. The Cougars will end the five game home stand against the Portland Winterhawks next Friday and Saturday, with puck drop for all games at 7:00. Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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