The Prairie Hockey Academy Cougars might not have had a shot at reaching the playoffs in their final game of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League Elite 15 championship tournament, but they weren’t going down without a fight, either.
After being held scoreless their first two games at the event in Penticton, B.C., the Cougars opened up for five goals on their way to a 6-5 shootout loss to Burnaby Winter Club on Saturday night.
The loss means the PHA will finish with an 0-2-0-1 record in their first trip to the national tournament.
Caelan Fitzpatrick scored twice for the Cougars, with both his goals coming in the first period. Kirk Mullen also had a pair of goals as PHA led 3-2 after the first and 5-3 through two but couldn’t make their lead stand – Burnaby would eventually tie the game with 1:39 left in regulation.
Nathan Airey made 38 saves in goal for Prairie Hockey, including saves on two of the three shooters he faced. Mullen, Ethan Peters and Atley Calvert were all stopped by Burnaby goaltender Tanner Johnson, who made 37 saves overall.
