Cougars Drop 3-1 Decision In Red Deer

By 250 News

The Red Deer Rebels continued their winning ways Friday night, collecting their seventh straight victory on home ice with a 3-1 win over the Prince George Cougars.

The Cougars were playing the second game of a three game trip through Alberta, which started with a 5-1 loss Wednesday to the Calgary Hitmen, even though the Cougars held the Hitmen to just 20 shots, a Cougars best this season.  For the first time since January 26, Kyle Jahraus got the start in goal and was tremendous in the opening 20 minutes against the Rebels.  Red Deer, who defeated the Cougars 2-1 on January 13 in Prince George, out-shot the Cougars 18-2 in the opening 20 minutes, but Jahraus shut the door on each opportunity to keep the game scoreless through a period.

The game stayed tied at zero's until the 8:20 mark of the second period, when Andrej Kudrna bounced a shot off a pair of Cougars and behind Jahraus to break the ice for Red Deer for his 26th of the season.  Then just 1:16 after the Rebels got a 1-0 lead, Daulton Siwak took advantage of a Cougars turn-over infront of the net and went upstairs on Jahraus for his second of the year and a 2-0 Rebels lead.  The Rebels Brett Ferguson would add to the hosts lead, getting his 11th goal of the season at 17:38 for a 3-0 Rebels advantage through 40 minutes.  Rebels goalie Darcy Kuemper was the star of the second period, blocking all 17 shots he faced, while the Rebels had nine shots on goal.

The Cougars would break through with the power play in the third period, when leading scorer Alex Rodgers snapped home his 18th goal of the season from the slot to cut the Rebels lead to 3-1.  Spencer Asuchak and Parker Stanfield got the assists on the goal that came at 5:01.  But that was it for scoring, as the Rebels improve their record to 35-22-0-4 with the victory, while the Cougars record dips to 11-45-1-2.  The shots in the third were 7-5 for Red Deer, who out-shot the Cougars 34-24 in the game.  Even though the Cougars scored on the power play, they had two 5-on-3 chances, including one that lasted 1:45, but could not score with either, going 1-for-8 on the night.  The Cougars penalty killers were perfect on three Rebels power plays.  In the last four games, the Cougars are 15-16 on the penalty kill, with the only goal allowed coming on a two man advantage for the Hitmen in Calgary Wednesday.

The Cougars finish the road trip in Edmonton Saturday night, hooking up with the Edmonton Oil Kings for the third time this month.  The Cougars and Oil Kings split a weekend double-header at CN Centre on February 5 and 6.  The Cats will return home for a pair of games with the Seattle Thunderbirds Tuesday and Wednesday.  Puck drop on both nights is 7:00, with tickets available at Ticketmaster by calling 250-564-5585.

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