Cougars Fall 7-4 In Portland, Despite Season High 48 Shots

By 250 News

The Cougars produced a season high in shots in Portland Saturday, but the Winterhawks pulled away with four goals in the third period to defeat the Cougars 7-4 at the Rose Garden.  The victory gave the Winterhawks a doubleheader sweep of the Cougars in Portland, with their next meeting not until February 22 in Prince George.

Saturday was Head Coach Dean Clark's 800th game behind a Western Hockey League bench.  The Cougars fell 4-1 Friday and promised to come out strong in the second game in Portland, which they did.  But Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth held the fort in goal, keeping the Cougars off the board through a 90 second 5-on-3 power play.  The Winterhawks, on their Teddy Bear Toss night, got the big goal over with at 12:44, when Ty Rattie scored his 16th tally of the season to make it 1-0 Portland.  After a lengthy delay to clear the ice of the stuffed toys, the Cougars continued their pressure and were rewarded at 16:38.  James Dobrowolski stepped off the left wing boards and beat Carruth with a backhand high on the blocker side for his ninth of the season.  Taylor Stefishen earned the lone assist, as the Cougars went into the first intermission tied at 1 with Portland, out-shooting the Winterhawks 18-5.

The Winterhawks took the lead back just 1:18 into the third, when Oliver Gabriel took a shot from the left wing boards that beat James Priestner on the blocker side, putting the hosts up 2-1.  But once again, the Cougars tied it, when Nick Buonassisi banged home a rebound off the end boards for his 12th of the year, knotting the game at 2.  Charles Inglis got the first shot and first assist, while Troy Bourke added a helper as well at 3:46.  The Cougars would get their first lead of the period at 15:38, when Jaroslav Vlach, like Buonassisi, used an end boards rebound to fire home his first goal of the year, off a missed shot by Martin Marincin.  Marincin earned the first assist, while Brock Hirsche won the draw back to the line and Wilson Dumais touched the puck on the way back to Marincin for the second assist, giving the Cougars a 3-2 lead.  But the Winterhawks came back 2:10 later, on a power play goal from Spencer Bennett, scoring on a wrap around on the glove side of Priestner to tie the game at three.  The Cougars would make a goalie change, with Ty Rimmer taking over in goal.  The game stayed tied after two period, with the Cougars out-shooting Portland 36-12 through 40 minutes.

But the Winterhawks would get the lead for good in the third period, when Riley Boychuk tipped in a point shot on the power play at 2:36, making it 4-3 Winterhawks.  Portland would add to the lead at 7:30, when Taylor Peters fired home a high shot past Rimmer for a 5-3 lead.  The Winterhawks would add two more goals from Derrick Pouliot at 8:19 and Morrow at 11:39, the latter a power play strike, giving Portland a 7-3 lead.   Greg Fraser would get one goal back at the end of a Cougars power play with two minutes to play, scoring on a second shot in front for his seventh of the year.  Cody Carlson and Dobrowolski would get the assists.  But the Cougars record falls to 15-13-2-1 with a 7-4 set-back, the team's fifth straight loss.  The Winterhawks improve to 24-8-0-3 for 51 points, the first team to the half century mark in points this season.  Portland out-shot the Cougars 14-12 in the third, but the Cougars out-shot the Winterhawks 48-26 in the game.  Another big story in the game were power plays, with the Cougars going 0-for-7 with two 5-on-3 power plays.  The Winterhawks went 3-for-4.

The Cougars return home to start an eight game homestand against the Swift Current Broncos on Tuesday night, starting at 7:00pm at CN Centre.  Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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