By Pat Shields
December 20th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
After two disappointing losses against the Jr. Canadiens and Patriots last weekend, the Burlington Cougars battled back with a strong effort on Friday night at Appleby Ice Centre against the North York Rangers. The Cougars looked to mount a late game comeback after two 2nd period power play goals put the Rangers ahead, but the push came up short with the Cougars dropping their 3rd straight game, 2-1.
“The last two games the work ethic that we demand wasn’t there, and it was a lot better tonight I thought,” Cougars head coach Terry Richardson said following the game.
Burlington came out with a strong effort in the 1st period, neutralizing North York’s strong and physical play to the tune of a scoreless draw after 20 minutes.
The Cougars and their 17th ranked penalty kill found themselves in some trouble in the second stanza, surrendering powerplay goals to Dante Fantauzzi and Grayden Gottschalk in the latter portions of the period.
The Cougars made things interesting with a 3rd period push, out-shooting the Rangers 16-6 in the frame and breaking the shutout with under a minute to play on Josiah Degazon’s 6th goal of the season. That is as far as they could climb though, dropping their record to 0-3 vs. the Rangers this season.
“They’re one of the top teams in the league – older, big, strong and they play well together. No one likes to lose, but we can see some of the things we work on every day in practice coming into the game now,” Richardson said. “We out shot them in the 3rd period, we just have to bury some of our chances.”
Richardson’s team will enjoy a couple more days off before they host the Mississauga Chargers on Monday afternoon at Appleby Ice Centre, and look to snap their 3-game losing streak. Puck drop will be a 2:00pm.
Note: The December 17th game against the Kingston Voyageurs has been postponed to Monday, January 15 at 1:00pm at Appleby Ice Centre.
The Burlington Cougars are a Canadian Junior “A” ice hockey team from Burlington, Ontario. They are a part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
