Just as the Kootenay Ice were getting on a roll, they suffered a setback in Medicine Hat, losing 6-2 to the Tigers on Wednesday night.
Ending a four-game winning streak, the Ice gave up three goals in the opening period on the way to a crushing defeat.
"We weren't willing to be competitive in the first 10 minutes against a team that we haven't played well against in their building and we knew that," said Ice head coach Ryan McGill.
"The rest is history."
Six different Tigers players scored for Medicine Hat, while Luke Phip notched a power play goal, extending his point streak to 11 games, while Zak Zborosky tallied the other effort for the Ice.
Wyatt Hoflin stopped 28 shots to take the loss in goal for the Ice, while Kootenay put 32 shots on goaltender Tigers tendie Marek Langhamer.
Kootenay lost the special teams battle, giving up three power play goals, but responded on a two man-advantage with Philp's marker.
Only 1:32 into the first period, Tigers captain Curtis Valk scored, extending his goal streak to eight games. Five minutes later Miles Koules doubled the Medicine Hat lead.
Cole Sanford found the back of the net on an odd-man rush late in the frame, putting the Ice down 3-0 after 20 minutes.
"They outcompeted us in every area for the puck and we didn't move the puck from our defencemen to our forwards quick enough," continued McGill. "We didn't read the rush properly in a couple instances, defensively, and the next thing you know, it's 3-0."
The floodgates remained open in the second period, with Trevor Cox tallying with a breakaway with the man-advantage and Chad Labelle made it 5-0 on another powerplay effort.
The Ice finally responded in the third period, when Philp blasted a slap shot past Langhamer with a two-man advantage. Zborosky scored in the second half of the frame, but Anthony Ast answered back with the third power play goal with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
Kootenay returns home for a set of home games this weekend, hosting the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday, before the Calgary Hitmen come to town on Saturday evening.