“It was terrible; we were awful, and it wasn’t just one guy, it was everybody.”
That’s from Cougars Head Coach Richard Matvichuk talking about his team’s performance in what was a game to forget Saturday night.
Prince George got beaten 5-1 by the Kamloops Blazers, who currently sit at the bottom of the BC Division standings.
The Cats were only held to 14 shots the entire contest, much to the dismay of Matvichuk.
“This is one where we got slapped and got knocked out,” he explained on 94.3 the GOAT’s post-game show.
“We thought that we could come in here and play a skilled game because we were climbing up in the standings, but there’s no real answer to it. The bottom line is that they competed and we didn’t, so we need to be better.”
Two fights ignited the rivalry early in the opening period, but the goals came quickly near the end of the frame for the visitors, scoring two goals in 41 seconds.
Kamloops extended their lead in the final minute of the middle frame, adding their fourth and fifth markers 20 seconds apart, both on the power-play, in the third.
Mike MacLean broke the shutout less than four minutes left in the game, scoring PG’s only goal of the game, his second of the season, from Rhett Rhinehart and Ilijah Colina.
FINAL: @blazerhockey (5) at @PGCougars (1)
SCORING ? | https://t.co/pAkgnGN3LD#PGvsKAM
— The WHL (@TheWHL) November 18, 2018
Goaltender Taylor Gauthier made 31 saves in his seventh loss the season.
Prince George find themselves back at 500 with a record of 9-9-1-2, good enough for third place in the BC Division and a point back of Victoria.
The Cougars look to split the weekend doubleheader today (Sunday); puck-drop goes for 2PM.
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