Cougars Drop Third Straight in 4-2 Loss to Hitmen
PRINCE GEORGE, BC – The Prince George Cougars dropped their third straight contest, falling 4-2 to the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday night at the CN Centre. Despite the loss, Alexander Levshyn delivered a strong performance in goal, turning aside 39 shots. Brock Souch and Lee Shurgot accounted for the Cougars’ scoring.
Prince George struck first when Brock Souch buried his 13th goal of the season at 6:46 of the opening period. Eli Johnson set up the marker with a no-look pass from below the goal line, finding Souch alone in front. Levshyn was sharp throughout the frame, making several key stops to preserve the lead. Calgary eventually evened the score on the power play at 18:12, as Hunter Aura snapped home a point shot. The man advantage came following a five-minute major and game misconduct assessed to Riley Ashe for kneeing. The game was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
The Hitmen grabbed their first lead of the night early in the second period with another power-play goal, this time from Calder Hamilton at 3:36. Calgary continued to press, but the Cougars responded midway through the frame when Lee Shurgot ripped a wrist shot past Eric Tu at 12:05 to tie the game at two. The deadlock held through 40 minutes.
In the third, Prince George carried stretches of offensive-zone pressure but couldn’t find a go-ahead goal. Following the second media timeout, Calgary capitalized on a turnover, springing a 2-on-1 that Keaton Jundt finished at 13:31 to give the Hitmen a 3-2 lead. Calgary sealed the game with a late power-play goal at 19:43, securing the 4-2 final.
“The whole night was a struggle, not a good start, we couldn’t execute any plays, the power plays we had nothing there,” said Cougars GM and Head Coach Mark Lamb. “We’re a pretty beat-up lineup right now. We’re really sick and missing some players. We’re playing some tough teams and the Christmas stretch is tough, we haven’t had any practice and we’ve been sick. You can tell, our team had no energy.”
Full Interview with GM & Head Coach Mark Lamb
The Cougars return to action on Tuesday, January 6th when they host the Penticton Vees at the CN Centre at 7:00 pm.
