Back To Back 6-3 Losses To Seattle For Cougars

By 250 News

The start was much better Wednesday for the Prince George Cougars in the second game of a double-header with the Seattle Thunderbirds at CN Centre.  But the scoreboard read the same 24 hours after the mid-week series began, with the T-Birds coming back from a 3-0 deficit after one period and taking back-to-back 6-3 wins from the Cougars.

The Cougars were after a better effort Wednesday, after dropping Tuesday's match-up with the Thunderbirds.  Both teams started goalies facing their former teams.  Kyle Jahraus, who the Cougars acquired from Seattle at the January 10 trade deadline, went head-to-head with former Cougar Michael Salmon, who started the season with the red and black.  Wednesday's match-up was also the first WHL game for 15-year old defenceman Josh Smith, the Cougars first pick in the 2009 bantam draft.  The Cougars controlled much of the play in the first period and were rewarded early on.  Taylor Orser had control of the puck along the right wing boards and waited until defenceman Dan Gibb jumped up from his blue line position to receive a pass in the left face off circle.  Gibb then wired a wrist shot over Salmon's glove hand to record his first Western Hockey League goal just 2:48 into the contest.  Alex Rodgers also drew an assist, giving him a four game point streak.  The Cougars added to their lead when James Dobrowolski jumped into the Seattle zone and fired a shot past a Thunderbirds defenceman that was kicked out by Salmon, but the rebound went straight to Greg Fraser, who pounded home his fifth of the season and second in consecutive outings for a 2-0 Cougars lead at 10:03.  Jesse Forsberg started the rush and earned his first point since December 2 with an assist.  Dobrowolski would add a goal to his name on the score sheet, rushing into the Thunderbirds end and while going from left wing to right wing, fired a wrist shot across the grain that beat Salmon on the glove side to give the Cougars a 3-0 advantage through one period.  Petr Senkerik drew a helper on Dobrowolski's 15th goal of the season, also giving the Vernon, BC product goals in back-to-back games.  Seattle out-shot the Cougars 12-10 in the opening frame.

But Seattle got on the board at 5:44 of the middle stanza when Colin Jacobs was left alone in front of the net and tapped home a centering pass behind Jahraus for his 15th of the year to cut the Cougars lead to 3-1.  Just over five minutes later, Luke Lockhart pounced on a Jahraus rebound and scored his sixth to make it a 3-2 game, which it stayed after 40 minutes.  Shots were even at nine a piece.

But in the third, Seattle kept finding the back of the net, with back-to-back power play goals three minutes apart.  Charles Wells, who had a three point game Tuesday, scored at 2:38 to tie the game with his 18th.  Then Prab Rai, a Cougars 2004 bantam draft pick, snuck a shot from the slot on Jahraus' glove side for his 39th of the year to put Seattle ahead 4-3.  Rai wasn't done, scoring on a breakaway to reach the 40 goal plateau at 7:37 and then Jacobs finished the scoring with his second of the night at 11:20 for a 6-3 Seattle win.  Seattle out-shot the Cougars 11-8 in the third and 32-27 in the game.  After dropping 17 straight contests, the Thunderbirds have now won three in a row.  The Cougars, meanwhile, have lost seven straight and fall to 11-48-1-2.  The Cougars power play went 0-for-5 while the Thunderbirds were 2-for-5.

The Cougars hit the road for three games in three nights south of the border.  They will face the Spokane Chiefs Friday night, followed by a date with the Everett Silvertips on Saturday and then wrap up the trip Sunday in Portland.  The Cougars will return home to face the Silvertips on Friday, March 5 on Tour Your Own Town Night, starting at 7:00.  Tickets are available by calling 250-564-5585.

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