In a game that saw big momentum swings to start each period, the Prince George Cougars came away with a 9-6 victory of the Victoria Royals in front of 3,034 fans at the CN Centre.
The Cougars jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period, courtesy of Hunter Laing, Zac Funk and Terik Parascak.
Parascak’s 31st of the season made him the Cougar’s all-time rookie goal leader.
The moment Terik Parascak passed Brett Connolly and Koehn Ziemmer for our rookie goal record 🥹🥹#NHLDraft https://t.co/zVUBogdkds pic.twitter.com/ZmvvoyZtC5
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) February 11, 2024
 The second period was disastrous for the Cougars, as they started the period with nearly a full penalty to kill, and racked up ten more penalty minutes in the period.
Justin Kipkie scored with the two-man-advantage and Tanner Scott added another powerplay marker in the first two minutes of the middle frame to cut the lead to just one.
Former Cougar Jaren Brinson tied the game even strength, and Casper Evensen Haugen put the Royals ahead 5-4 on the powerplay.
“We weren’t playing the right way in the second period at all,” said Cougars Head Coach Mark Lamb.
“We were taking dumb penalties, turning the puck over, and we got what we deserved.”
The Cougars came out with a monstrous third period, scoring five unanswered.
Funk scored two more in the final frame to finalize his seventh hat-trick of the season.
Lucky No. 7 for Zac Funk. @PGCougars | #WHLHatTricks pic.twitter.com/5zdYt1bifr
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 11, 2024
 “I don’t know what’s going on, but obviously really happy the puck’s going in the net that much” Funk said.
Borya Valis scored a pair, and Ephram McNutt added an end-to-end beauty.
Ephram McNutt, defenseman, goes end-to-end for his 4th career goal. This game has everything. https://t.co/3G3N6psY9O pic.twitter.com/kjd2aLivhB
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) February 11, 2024
 “They came out with a lot of fire,” Lamb said.
“We had a lot of determined guys that wanted to win the game and that’s a real good sign.”
Joshua Ravensbergen got the start between the pipes for the Cougars, giving up five goals on 20 shots through 40 minutes.
Ty Young entered the game in relief to start the third, and he only faced three shots, allowing one goal.
The full box score can be found here.
The Cougars (35-15-0-2) are second in the WHL’s Western Conference, one point behind the Portland Winterhawks. (35-12-2-1)
The Cougars are also one point behind the Everett Silvertips (35-17-1-2), but the Cougars have a higher points percentage.
The full WHL standings can be found here.
The Cougars are back in action Friday at the CN Centre the first game of a home-and-home with the Kamloops Blazers.
The full Cougars schedule can be found here.
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