The Prince George Cougars are hitting the road for their biennial East Division road trip after a weekend split with the Everett Silvertips, following a 5-2 loss at the CN Centre Saturday.
Nikita Krivokrasov and Jack Sander scored for the Cougars who suffered their first loss against the Silvertips this season. Rookie goaltender Tyler Brennan was saddled with the loss after conceding five goals on 35 shots.
Everett snapped a three-game losing streak and picked up their 26th win of the season. Ronan Seeley, Jake Christiansen, Cole Fonstad, Jackson Berezowski, and Conrad Mitchell scored for the visitors. Goaltender Braden Holt recorded his first career win as he stopped 19 shots.
The game did not start how the Cougars drew it up, as they surrendered two goals on Everett’s first two shots in the first two-minutes. 63-seconds into the opening frame, Everett’s Ronan Seeley took the puck around the Cougars’ net on a delayed penalty and put his shot high upstairs over Tyler Brennan to put the visitors ahead. One minute later, Jake Christiansen let a knuckle-puck shot go from the blue-line that sailed over Brennan’s glove.
Prince George started off the second period much better than they did the first, as Nikita Krivokrasov pounced on a rebound in the Everett crease to cut the deficit in half. Krivokrasov’s sixth of the season came just six-seconds after the Cougars’ power-play had expired.
Everett put a dent into Prince George’s comeback attempt in the back half of the middle frame after they scored two more goals in a two-minute stretch to pull away.
During a four-on-four sequence, the Silvertips Cole Fonstad used the extra room to restore their two-goal lead at the 11:46 mark, as he scored from the left-wing circle. Then, Jackson Berezowski tipped home a pass from Wyatte Wylie to make it 4-1 at 13:52. The Cougars started the second period with comeback aspirations but found themselves down by three heading into the final 20-minutes.
Early in the third period Conrad Mitchell stretched the Silvertips lead to 5-1 after Seeley’s shot grazed his body before bouncing in at 3:33.
Jack Sander pulled a goal back for the Cougars on the power-play at 12:35 to finish off the scoring.
Game Notes: Jack Sander’s goal in the third period was his first since November 6th. After his goal Saturday, three of Nikita Krivokrasov’s six goals this season have come against Everett. Rhett Rhinehart picked up two assists in the loss, which was his second multi-point game of the season and first since November 1st.
Next Up: The Cougars (10-22-2-3) are on the road for six games against the WHL’s East division, starting Wednesday night in Regina. They also make stops in Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Brandon, and Moose Jaw over their 12-day trip. Prince George’s next home weekend will be January 24th and 25th against their division rival, the Kamloops Blazers.
Power-Play
Cougars- 1/6
Silvertips – 0/4
Shots
Cougars- 21
Silvertips- 36
Three Stars: 1) Cole Fonstad 2) Ronan Seeley 3) Nikita Krivokrasov
-Prince George Cougars