“They don’t ask how, they ask how many.”
If you’re the Prince George Cougars, the answer to that question was “not enough” in last night’s (Saturday) 5-4 overtime loss to the Spokane Chiefs.
Chase Bertholet sent the 2,368 fans at the CN Centre home stunned with an absolute laser to seal the Chiefs win in overtime.
BERTHOLET CALLS GAME 🤑
Guess he was eager to get the bus rolling back to Spokane, he scored this one just 28 seconds into OT! Assists for Gross and Catton, who finishes with 4 points tonight.#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/XyzWGrtsBP
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) March 5, 2023
“We were way too loose, it’s been a hard stretch, mentally, it was hard to find our legs. We’ll take the point and move on,” Cougars Head Coach and GM Mark Lamb said on the post game show on 94.3 The Goat.
The Cougars gave away the puck many times, including one that led to Berkly Catton’s game-tying goal in the third, his second of the night.
Just another signature Berty-Berkly Beauty 😍
Catton ties it up again 4-4 with his second goal of the night! 6:44 in the third.#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/uFmadK5fxq
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) March 5, 2023
“We’ve seen that before this year, you get tricked into these games when you win in a certain score the night before, and you think it’s going to be a little bit easier than it really is and you’re going to light it up and it never works like that,” Lamb said.
The Cougars had several high-danger chances in the first period, but couldn’t put the puck past Chiefs netminder Dawson Cowan.
Carlin Dezainde was eventually able to bury a rebound off a Blake Eastman shot to open the scoring.
They don’t ask how 😚 https://t.co/8Ui8Z6IrTH pic.twitter.com/3hz0DimbCh
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 5, 2023
Keeping up with the theme of ‘they don’t ask how, they ask how many’, Catton banked in a powerplay goal off the back of Ty Young from behind the net.
POWER PLAY BERK ⚡️
Catton ties things up at 19:00 with his 18th goal of the year! Apples for Lane and Gizowski.#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/gPIWNtJzgk
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) March 5, 2023
In the second, Ondrej Becher tipped a Viliam Kmec dump in attempt past Dawson Cowan to put the Cougars ahead.
Is it the goal of the night? Probably not.
Do we care? No, not really 😏 https://t.co/xfdLc6cES0 pic.twitter.com/vBiC6fr8xW
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 5, 2023
Ethan Samson and Chase Wheatcroft also scored in the loss.
The full box score can be found here.
The Cougars (30-24-5-0) sit fourth in the WHL’s Western Conference.
There were mixed results for the Cougars when it comes to the out of town scoreboard.
The Tri-City Americans (28-24-5-2) took a 4-3 overtime win over the disastrous Portland Winterhawks, (36-17-3-3) who are on a nine-game losing skid.
The Seattle Thunderbirds (47-9-1-1) blanked the Everett Silvertips (30-25-2-1) 5-0.
The Silvertips and Americans both trail the Cougars by two points in the WHL’s Western Conference, while the Cougars trail the third-place Winterhawks by 13 points.
The full WHL standings can be found here.
The Cougars will play their next four games on the road, starting in Kelowna on Wednesday. (7:05 p.m.)
They’ll then play three days in a row, starting with a double-header against the Victoria Royals on Friday and Saturday, and then a Sunday night game against the Vancouver Giants.
“It’s going to be another real tough stretch for us, especially with the two games in Victoria, and then you jump on the ferry and you got to play that Vancouver game,” Lamb said.
“The schedule’s the schedule, and we’ll get ready for the next game.”
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