Cougars Fall 4-1 to Everett.
Wednesday night in Prince George, the Cougars fell 4-1 to the Everett Silvertips. Kohl Bauml and Carson Stadnyk had three points each for the visitors while Aaron Macklin had the lone goal for the Cougars on a second period power play. For the Silvertips it was their ninth win in 10 games, and for the Cougars it was their seventh consecutive loss.
For a second straight game the Cougars came out strong in the first 10 minutes. Jared Bethune and Aaron Macklin both dropped the gloves in the first 5:26 of the game, and the Cougars made it known early that they were going to be a tougher team to play against in their rematch.
Carson Stadnyk grabbed the game’s first goal at the 13:19 mark of the first period late on a power play. With just a few seconds remaining in their first power play chance, Cole MacDonald’s point shot found it’s way through and was stopped by Tavin Grant but Stadnyk got to the rebound first and tucked it past the right leg of Grant for his 18th goal of the season.
Two minutes into the second Everett extended their lead when Nikita Scherbak knocked home a Kohl Bauml pass from the side of the Cougars goal.
To their credit the Cougars stuck with it and were eventually rewarded with a power play marker of their own at the 8:06 mark. Off a won faceoff, Tate Olson fed the puck to Shane Collins at the right point. Collins pinched down the wing, let a low shot go towards the goal and Aaron Macklin redirected it home past Carter Hart for his third of the season.
The Cougars continued to apply pressure in the later stages of the period, but Silvertips held them off, and Everett took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
32 seconds into the third Everett restored their two goal lead when Kohl Bauml beat Tavin Grant with a shot from the left circle. Carson Stadnyk started the play behind the Cougars goal by faking a wrap-around to the far side. Tavin Grant moved to his left anticipating the wraparound, but then Stadnyk slid a pass beside the net to the waiting Bauml who fired a shot into the open net for his 22nd goal of the season.
Bauml then added another at the 7:22 mark of the third to complete the game’s scoring.
Everett outshot the Cougars 26-18. Prince George went one-for-seven on the power play while the Silvertips went one-for-two on their power play tries.
The Cougars record now sits at 20-25-1-1 ahead of this weekend’s trip to Alberta. On Friday night the Cougars begin a stretch of three games in three nights in three Central Division cities starting in Medicine Hat. The Cougars will begin the trip still two points ahead of Vancouver and Kamloops for third place in the B.C. Division.
