It was not so long ago that the Prince George Cougars were 13-9-0-0, first place in the BC Division.
Those days are long gone – the Cougars have been the coldest of any team in the western conference from late November onwards, having lost 11 of their last 13 games (2-8-3-0).
In fact, the only team in the entire WHL who has a worse record in that time is the Edmonton Oil Kings, who are firmly cemented in dead last with just 4 wins this season – currently riding a 0-16-0-0 streak.
After exploding for 10 goals against the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday night, the offence dried up against the Everett Silvertips last night (Friday) – losing 4-2 on home ice in front of 1927 fans.
Right from the opening puck drop it looked like the Cats picked up right where they left off against Kamloops, scoring just over 30 seconds into the game when Koehn Ziemmer and Riley Heidt connected on a 2-on-1.
Puck drop: 7:00
First fly by: 7:01#NHLDraft https://t.co/teuNLX88Xg pic.twitter.com/xsTd4iZgNS— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 7, 2023
That energy would be short lived, as the Silvertips stormed back to score three unanswered in the period to make the game 3-1, outshooting Prince George 20-7 in the frame.
The Cougars rebounded well in the second period, outshooting Everett 15-4 and dominating the physical play, but only cracked goaltender Tyler Palmer once with 6.6 seconds left in the period.
Ziemmer scored the goal, his first in 6 games. Despite riding an 11 game point streak, he threw the monkey off his back in his goal celebration.
No monkeys allowed in the CN Centre 😤🐒 https://t.co/53dv1fLYhk
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 7, 2023
Entering the third period down a goal 3-2, the Cougars surrendered the backbreaking 4-2 tally just 4 minutes in.
Jesse Heslop shows off his hands for his fifth of the season!@WHLsilvertips pic.twitter.com/GYpeCWwhR7
— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 7, 2023
The game would remain at this same score for the next 16 minutes.
The Cougars spent five of the last six and a half minutes of the game killing a major boarding penalty to Ethan Samson which also landed him a game misconduct.
Koehn Ziemmer had a goal and an assist in the game, Everett’s Ryan Hofer had two goals and an assist.
Ty Young made 30 saves on 34 shots, Tyler Palmer, the newest face on the Silvertips’ roster, made 26 saves on 28 shots.
The loss pushes the Cougars farther below the .500 mark to 15-17-3-0, 7th place in the western conference.
Everett improves to 18-17-1-0, fourth in the west.
Four points separate Prince George (33) and Everett (37) in the standings, with Vancouver (36) and Tri City (35) wedged in between.
The Giants beat the Americans last night, 3-2 in overtime. They both play again tonight, Vancouver against 10th place Spokane Chiefs, and Tri City against the recently-hot 9th place Victoria Royals.
The Cougars will look for the weekend split in the CN Centre tonight at 6:00 before heading back on the road for 7 games, which will include their Central Division swing.
The WHL trade deadline is Tuesday (January 10), expect to see moves across the league ramp up after games finish this weekend.
For this game’s box score, click here.
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