The Prince George Cougars were held off the scoresheet Wednesday, losing 4-0 to the Brandon Wheat Kings at Westoba Place.
Chad Nychuk, Duncan Pierce, Connor Gutenberg, and Marcus Sekundiak scored for the Wheat Kings. Goaltender Jiri Patera stopped all 21 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season.
Taylor Gauthier turned aside 37 of 41 shots in the Cougars’ crease.
Wednesday was Brandon’s seventh-straight win, as they moved with four points of the Prince Albert Raiders for second spot in the East Division. The loss was the Cougars second straight as they fell to 11-24-3-4 on the season.
The Wheat Kings’ Chad Nychuk opened the scoring eight-minutes into the first period on a power-play goal. Nychuk scoring from the left circle at 8:12.
Jonny Hooker almost responded immediately for Prince George. Tyson Upper spotted the former Wheat King at the top of the crease but he redirected the pass through the crease and out the other side. It remained 1-0 for Brandon until the opening moments of the third period.
Duncan Pierce doubled the home team’s lead 95-seconds into the final frame, as Brandon went ahead 2-0. Pierce got a pass from the boards and drove the net and beat Gauthier with a backhand on the stick side.
Brandon then put the game out of reach when tbey scored two goals in half a minute. Connor Gutenberg made it 3-0 at 8:46 of the third frame after he picked the corner on the short side. On the next shift Marcus Sekundiak took a pass out of the corner and tipped the puck in to make it 4-0 at 9:17.
Game Notes: Forwards Brendan Boyle (illness) and Ethan Browne (illness) and defenceman Aiden Reeves were scratched. Wednesday was th sixth shutout loss the Cougars’ have suffered this season and the first since December 7th in Portland. The Cougars record on the six-game road trip now sits at 1-2-1-1. Their road record slips to 5-13-2-2.
Next Up: The Cougars (11-23-3-4) conclude their road trip on Friday, January 17th against the Moose Jaw Warriors; the puck drops at 7:00 CT / 5:00 PT. Fans can listen to the game on 94-3 The GOAT, or they can watch the game at Brown’s Socialhouse in Prince George, and online at http://www.whl.neulion.com/
Power-Play
Cougars- 0/4
Wheat Kings – 1/6
Shots
Cougars- 21
Wheat Kings- 41
Three Stars: 1) Chad Nychuk 2) Jiri Patera 3) Duncan Pierce