The Burlington Cougars hosted their West Division rival Brampton Admirals at Appleby Ice Centre on Friday night. Despite a strong opening period from Burlington, a second period surge from the Admirals would have them come out on top by a final score of 4-1.

The first period started with a Cougars powerplay due to a warm-up violation, but proved unsuccessful. The home team would carry that momentum throughout the first period, keeping their foot on the gas.

The Cougars came in to Friday’s game riding a three-game win streak during which they tallied 18 goals. Unfortunately in the opening frame, they would not find the twine on any of their 13 shots.

The Cougars were poised to carry that trend into the second frame, however, the Admirals had different plans. Two minutes into the period, Brampton would break the deadlock. It would stay a one-goal game until later in the period.

Following the 2-0 goal, the Admirals’ powerplay went to work, extending the lead to three heading into the third period.

Brampton would ice the game with their fourth goal mere minutes into the final frame. Cougars forward and leading-scorer Keanan Stewart would tally his 16th goal of the season, but that’s all they would muster up for the remainder of the game.

Despite outshooting the Admirals 15 to 9, they were unable to rally back in the third period. Brampton now evens themselves with Burlington in the West Division standings, winning the fourth of five clashes between the two this season

While this game may have been disappointing due to the divisional implications, the Cougars are 3-2 in 2019 and have been playing their strongest hockey of the season. Dunsmoor, suffering only his ninth loss of the season, has been otherwise solid in goal. This should be but a minor setback for the blue and green.

- Written by Chris Perrelli