Winterhawks 3 – Cougars 2.
Wednesday night in Kennewick, WA the Prince George Cougars fell 3-2 to the Portland Winterhawks in the first of what will ultimately be three neutral-site games in four nights for Mark Holick’s club. Zach Goberis and Justin Almeida had the goals for the Cougars and goaltender Ty Edmonds went a perfect 13-for-13 in the saves department after relieving Patrick Gora midway through the second period.
After a scoreless first period, the Cougars and the Winterhawks combined for four tallys in the second. 26 seconds into the middle frame, Brett Clayton pounced on a Ryan Hughes rebound and shoveled it home for his second goal of the preseason. Clayton’s marker came on the power play, which snapped a lengthy Cougars streak of 15 straight penalties killed off in the preseason.
Just over a minute later the Cougars got it back when Zach Goberis knocked down Portland goaltender Adin Hill’s clearing attempt from several feet in front of his own net. Goberis took a stride and then fired the puck into the wide open net for his first of the preseason.
Cody Glass restored Portland’s lead at the 7:23 mark of the period when he followed up a Carl Ericson rebound and backhanded the puck past Patrick Gora. Then Austin Gray extended Portland’s lead on a power play at the 9:39 mark, and that spelled the planned end of Patrick Gora’s night in goal for Prince George.
In came Ty Edmonds who followed up a great appearance last Saturday in Kelowna with another strong outing. He’d stop 13 shots on 13 shots faced the rest of the way, and kept the Cougars within striking distance. His best save came in the final minutes of the second, when extended his left arm, and robbed Austin Gray of his second of the game for Portland.
At the other end, Adin Hill did his part for Portland, as he went the distance in goal making 32 saves on 34 shots faced. Justin Almeida did get the Cougars back within one goal at the 19:20 mark of the third period when he tipped home a Jordan Ross shot for his first of the preseason, but that’s as close as the Cougars would come.
Despite outshooting Portland 34-28, the Cougars were unable to capture their first win of the preseason. The Cougar power play went zero-for-six while Portland’s was two-for-five.
Next up for the Cougars: A return to the Toyota Center as they’ll face the Everett Silvertips in a Thursday matinee which begins at 11:00 am tomorrow.
