Thank goodness for Zac Funk and Terik Parascak.
The dynamic duo continued its on-ice dominance on Friday, lighting the lamp four times enroute to a 5-3 Prince George Cougars victory over the Vancouver Giants in front of 3,743 fans at CN Centre.
Parascak, who had a game-high five-points, could have easily scored five or six goals on the evening had it not been for the goaltending of Giants overager Brett Mirwald, two of those saves came off breakaways.
The 17-year-old from Lethbridge, Alberta kicked off the scoring for the Cougars, finishing off a Funk feed, that got past Mirwald for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
“I thought in the first period when we got our goal we had a decent start but I thought Ravensvbergen kept us in it. He was excellent. I thought the score could have been favorable to them after the first period if it wasn’t for him,” stated Mark Lamb, Cougars head coach and general manager post-game to MyPGNow.com.
The Super Rookie has 35 goals this season.
Thought you’d want to know 😘#NHLDraft https://t.co/cw1QGoTG32 pic.twitter.com/WQ9ygkWe72
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 9, 2024
In a game, that had its fair share of ebbs and flows, Funk continued to be in fine-leather fashion for Prince George, cracking the 60-goal club at the 13:44 mark of the second period, completing a three-way scoring play that involved Parascak and Ondrej Becher.
60 GOALS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY.
ZAC. FUNK.#ALLCAPS @Capitals https://t.co/LPSy40Lk86 pic.twitter.com/vYfSQo2pv1
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 9, 2024
Funk continued his offensive magic less than two minutes later, somehow sneaking in-behind the Vancouver penalty killers, sliding home a Happy Gilmore-like tap-in at the side of the net extending the Cougars advantage to 3-0.
Calgary Flames prospect Jaden Lipinski gave Vancouver some life prior to the intermission accepting a Cameron Schmidt, making no mistake against Cougars netminder Josh Ravensbergen.
Schmidt, who is from Prince George and a former minor hockey star, received a loud ovation from the locals after his name was spoken through CN Centre public address system.
Parascak added to the Cougar lead at the 4:30 mark of the third period, driving to the Giants goal, tapping home a laser pass from Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt.
“At the start of the year, we had a lot of chemistry (with Funk and Becher). We all feed off of each other based on the style of games that we play. It works every night it seems like and we’ve built some pretty good chemistry,” Parascak said.
While it looked like Prince George was home and cooled, Schmidt took the game over and reminded the fans why he is one of the league’s bright young stars. Schmidt wrestled the puck away from Cats blueliner Villam Kmec, gaining the inside track on him before cutting to the goal and tucking a shot past Ravensbergen.
Four minutes later, Schmidt created more offensive magic with the puck sifting through a couple of Cougar checks before firing a hard wrist shot that went under the crossbar and straight out trimming the PG lead to 4-3.
“I was really happy with the way our team played. I thought we did a really good job tonight with opportunities to score early but we just didn’t – I thought we gave a lot of opportunities to Prince George and we have to stay out of the penalty box. We made a couple of mistakes too that we would like to have back, but I was very pleased with how our team played,” said Manny Viveiros, Giants head coach.
The 16-year-old has 47 points in 52 games, which includes 26 goals.
Undeterred and unfazed, the Cougars punched right back with the insurance marker, courtesy of their captain Hudson Thornton, who did his best Schmidt impression, firing a hard slapper from inside the Vancouver blueliner and under the post, handcuffing Mirwald.
Don’t blink 🫣 https://t.co/4HjD0aknxp pic.twitter.com/sJQUx01ZJq
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 9, 2024
The Cougars outshot the Giants 43-33 and went 2-for-6 on the power-play while Vancouver failed to score on four opportunities.
The trio of Becher, Funk and Parascak combined for ten points as PG (42-15-1-3) moves back into first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Portland Winterhawks (42-15-2-1) who were idle on Friday.
“They are good all the time. I thought Parascak was unbelievable, he could have had five or six goals. He was around it all night and he has been doing it all year. What can you say about Funk? He just keeps scoring,” added Lamb.
Since signing his entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals, Funk has scored five goals and seven points in his last three games.
Funk, who has 61 goals and counting, already surpassed Quinn Hancock’s record for most goals in a single season in franchise history and could also overtake him for points in a season.
GOAL PER GAME PACE.
61 GAMES IN.#ALLCAPS @Capitals https://t.co/lcVsxPoygr pic.twitter.com/a12vQF7SFZ
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 9, 2024
Hancock tallied 112 points in the 1997-98 season. Funk has 106 points, needs seven points over his final seven games to break the record. Heidt is one point behind him (105) for the same milestone with two weeks left in the WHL regular season.
Parascak on the other hand, continues to go punch for punch against Medicine Hat Tigers superstar Gavin McKenna in the rookie scoring race.
The 17-year-old has 91 points on the campaign, one more than McKenna (90) who has suited up in four fewer games and is two years younger.
The next closest rookie in the race is Julius Miettinen of the Everett Silvertips who is a very distant third with 57 points.
PG and Vancouver, finish off their weekend double-header tonight (Saturday) at 6:00 from CN Centre.
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