Hitmen Down Cougars 4-1

By 250 News

The Calgary Hitmen jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and handed the Prince George Cougars a 4-1 loss Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Cougars were looking to build from a 7-2 victory in Lethbridge Friday night, earning the Cougars their first win on their five game Alberta road trip.  The Cougars also defeated the Hitmen in their first encounter at CN Centre on December 1, 4-3.  But the Hitmen, who had lost two straight and eight of nine, got off to a fast start when Justin Kirsch finished a 2-on-1 rush by pounding the one-timer past Ty Rimmer for a 1-0 Hitmen lead at 4:12.  The Hitmen would add goals from Kris Foucault and Misha Fisenko to take a 3-0 lead to the dressing room through 20 minutes, out-shooting the Cougars 13-11 in the first.

The Cougars controlled the play in the second frame and were rewarded with a power play goal at 7:44, when Brett Connolly rifled home his 33rd goal of the season from a behind the net set-up from James Dobrowolski to get the Cougars on the board.  Sena Acolatse also drew an assist.  For Connolly, that extends his point streak to seven with six goals over that time.  Brandon Glover was challenged 15 times in the second period in the Calgary goal, but turned away 14 shots.  Rimmer only had three shots to face in the second.

Foucault rounded out the scoring with his second of the night into an empty net for a 4-1 Hitmen victory, dropping the Cougars record to 27-26-2-1.  The Cougars were 1-for-5 on the power play and the Hitmen went 0-for-3.  The Cougars out-shot the Hitmen 33-22 in the game.

The Cougars finish the road trip in Red Deer Sunday before returning home for a Friday night date with the Everett Silvertips at CN Centre, starting at 7:00pm.  Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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