There is a saying, all good things must come to an end and the Squamish Cougars certainly found out the hard way last Friday night (Nov. 16) in Lumby against the Fighting Saints where the Cats played well but came up short losing 4-2. The Cougars immediately jumped back on the bus to head to Alberta to face the cellar dwellering Barrhead River Kings but were defeated 5-2 on Saturday and 7-4 on Sunday.
Despite only arriving at the Lumby rink 15 minutes before the puck dropped, the Cougars managed to keep the Saints off the scoreboard in a slow, sloppy first period.Penalties would be the undoing of the Cats in the second period as the Halos opened the scoring at 12:02 on the power play. Another goal two minutes later found the Cougars down 2-0 after two.
The third period opened with the Cats swarming the Saints' net desperately looking for their first goal. They were rewarded five minutes in when Ross Pattison scored with helpers from Alex Wilkes and Troy McLean. McLean soon tied it on a backhand shot low after Pattison dug the puck loose from the corner.
The Cougars continued to dominate the third with excellent chances including two breakaways and a post. Todd Coates, unfortunately, took a bad penalty that allowed the Saints to regain the lead. With less than 30 seconds to go, the Saints found a way to beat Cougar netminder Julian Talavera to make it 3-2. The Saints then added an empty net goal with two seconds left. The next day saw the Cats caught off guard by a revitalized Kings team with unfamiliar faces in the lineup that contributed to the early 2-0 lead in the first period.
The Cougars responded with two goals of their own in the second. At the ten minute mark, Pattison scored his second in two games with a helper from Nils Hanfstingl. Spencer Samson tied the game up with three minutes to go in the second by battling in front of the net and getting his own rebound to put the puck in.
The third period was all Cougars everywhere except the scoreboard. A black cat must have crossed the path of Matthias Oertel's pass because the River Kings managed to score without even touching the puck. The Cougars were enjoying a two man advantage after pulling the goalie when Oertel tried a pass to a d-man when the puck hit a stick and bounced off the boards and down the ice into the Cougar net. The River Kings added to their lead with five minutes to go and complete the scoring with an empty net goal en route to a 5-2 victory.
The Sunday rematch between the two teams was a sharp contrast to the exciting Saturday night game. The Cats came out flat in the first period and the throne sitters took advantage scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the game. The Kings would add to their lead again before the Cougars finally scored at 9:53. Oertel sent McLean in one-on-one with a nice lead pass. McLean used the defender as a screen for his initial shot and then put his rebound behind the Kings keeper.
However, undisciplined penalties with six minutes to go in the period allowed the River Kings to regain their three goal lead.The Cougars had lots of chances in the second period to close the gap as they both outshot and outplayed the River Kings. Unfortunately, an undisciplined slashing penalty by Bruce Zimmerman behind the play stymied the Cougar momentum. Twenty seconds into the penalty kill, Coates was then called for a very questionable cross check. The Kings would use their two-man advantage to increase their lead to 5-1. Pattison helped close the gap with 13 seconds to go with helpers from Samson and Aaron Oberson.
Early in the third period the Cougars regained their composure and began to pressure the Kings. Samson scored an unassisted goal at the 5:30 mark to make the score 5-3. The momentum seemed to be swinging back to the Cats as McLean closed the gap to one with assists from Pattison and newcomer Michael Bosa. Cougar penalty trouble allowed the River Kings to score with eight minutes to go. The Kings added another at 3:50 to end with a 7-4 victory and a two game winning streak. The Cougars limped home (the bus even broke down in Blue River) to nurse their wounds and a three game losing streak.
Coach Samson reflected on the weekend, "It's frustrating because all the scoring came from one line. We can't rely on one line especially with the talent and depth we have....With any kind of secondary scoring we probably would have won at least two out of three games."
Next up for the Cats is Friday night against the high flying Oliver Jets in a battle for first place. Game time is 7:15pm at Brennan Park. It's "picture night" and the first 50 fans through the door will receive a Cougar photo.
