The 樱桃视频Cougars gave away oil, gas and beef on "Alberta night" at Brennan Park arena Friday (Nov. 9) but they certainly had no intention of giving the game away to the Barrhead River Kings.
Despite a very lacklustre start the Cougars were able to bounce the River Kings off their throne with a 7-2 win.The Cats came out very flat - "lazy" was one word coach Matt Samson used - in the first period. If not for Cougar netminder Graham Hallenbeck, the River Kings would have taken an early lead. Samson was not happy with the first period effort of his team but the closing period saw a much-improved team."It's nice as a coach to look down the bench and pretty much be comfortable putting anyone out there at different times," he said, reflecting on the remaining 40 minutes of the game.
When asked to compare the teams from their meeting last month to now Samson replied, "Both teams are stronger, they made some changes and it's good we were able to beat them 7-2."Barrhead coach Tony Fiorillo noted that the River Kings are still nursing injuries to their better players.
"We haven't seen the real Kings yet with some of our players out," he said.
The only goal of the first period was scored by the Cougars at the 10:30 mark when Troy McLean grabbed the rebound from a Bruce Zimmerman point shot and passed it to Spencer Samson who let a shot go at Kings stopper Braden Redman. Ross Pattison pounced on the rebound and turned the red light on. Pattison also provided more highlights for the 300 plus fans during a fight with the Kings' Kelly Chapman. Pattison was also involved in the most controversial moment of the game when he picked up the puck at the Kings blue line and drove to the net.
Redman went to poke check the puck while Pattison was being checked by a River King d-man and crashed the Kings goalie. After a few minutes Redman was able to leave the ice on his own but didn't return to the game.Australian Andrew Waite replaced Redman in the Kings' net. From the drop of the puck to start the second period, it became evident the Cougars were determined to improved their performance.
During a Kings penalty, Samson had two golden opportunities to increase the Cats lead including ringing a short off the crossbar. Despite their efforts the River Kings tied the game on the power play when Terrel Hince beat Hallenbeck low. The Cougars regained their lead when Derek Stewart scored his first WHA goal. Matthias Oertel grabbed his own rebound and skated behind the net and found Stewart waiting with an open net.
The Cats scored their first power play goal at the nine minute mark as Kyle Ritchie shook the puck loose with a hard body check on a Kings defender.
He shovelled the puck to Oertel who found Chase Haubursin waiting in the slot. Haubursin's wrist shot gave the Cats a three goal lead. A Kings penalty three minutes later saw the Cats get their second power play goal. Ritchie's shot was blocked at the blue line but he was able to regain possession. A quick pass to Pattison was backhanded to McLean and he fired a low shot that beat Waite. The ferocious felines would make it 5-1 at the 13 minute mark when Nick Johnston carried the puck over the Kings' blueline but then lost the puck on a poke check. Alex Wilkes slid the loose puck to Oertel who fired an innocent looking shot at Waite that bounced off the Kings keeper and into the net. That was it for Waite as Barrhead bench boss Tony Fiorillo sent in Samuel Viau to finish the game.
A late power play goal by McLean on a give and go with Samson closed out the second period scoring. Haubursin picked up an assist on the play.
True to the Cougar script, the Cats started the third period with feline disinterest. The River Kings scored their second of the game on the power play. Hallenbeck's clearing attempt ended up on a River King stick. Ryan Ternowski would end up tucking the rebound past the Cougar stopper. After that the Cougar tenacity returned and they kept the Kings off the scoreboard. Around the midway point of the period Todd Coates broke up a Kings attack in front of Hallenbeck and tapped the puck to Haubursin who hit Johnston with a pass in the neutral zone.
Johnston carried the puck over the blue line and slid the disc under Viau to close out the scoring. The Cougars won their seventh in a row and now sit in first place with 11 wins and 3 losses.Next up for the Cougars, as they try to extend their winning streak, is a trip to the Interior for a short road trip before returning home to face the Whalers on a Caribbean Beach Party night.
For game highlights watch WHA Cougar Trails on www.youtube.com
