Zac Funk recorded another multi-goal game.
It sounds like a broken record.
And that is what the Prince George Cougars superstar did on Tuesday night in a 4-2 Game Three victory against the hometown Spokane Chiefs in front of a dismal crowd of 3,606 fans, putting the Cats within one win of the second round of the WHL Playoffs.
Funk, who led the entire league with 67 goals in the regular season, book-ended the scoring for the top-seeded Cats beating Cooper Michaluk at 17:30 of the first period and six minutes into the third stanza.
The signed Washington Capitals prospect solved Michaluk with a deflection following a Hudson Thornton point blast and then converted on a misplay behind the Chiefs goal where Ondrej Becher fed Funk who put it into the yawning cage.
Becher extended his point streak to 22 games.
Zac Funk makes no mistake for his second of the game!#ALLCAPS @Capitals https://t.co/Hn1MfgPBed pic.twitter.com/KtAZroyiE5
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 3, 2024
Prince George put some much-needed pressure and distance between themselves and the eighth seeded Chiefs in the second period.
An egregious turnover by a Spokane blueliner led to a 2-on-1 where Funk slid a pass over to Borya Valis who made no mistake and extended the lead to 3-1.
Several minutes later, the Cougars were gift-wrapped a lengthy 5-on-3 man-advantage after minor penalties to Nathan Mayes and Brayden Crampton a minute apart.
Off the faceoff, things went from bad to worse for Spokane as Ben Bonni broke his stick right off the draw, which allowed PG to put on a special teams’ clinic, culminating in a Thornton point shot that beat Michaluk on the glove side.
The captain collects on the powerplay! https://t.co/pj2vjtkx4V pic.twitter.com/6Rg64bbU9d
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 3, 2024
Michaluk, who made 29 saves in defeat for the Chiefs was bested by Cougars netminder Josh Ravensbergen who turned in a solid road performance; 28 out of 30 Spokane shot attempts, twelve of which, he turned aside in the third period.
The only chance Ravensbergen let in was a goal-mouth scramble by Ty Cheveldayoff.
PG went 2-for-3 on the power-play while the Chiefs went 0-for-5.
It was another tough night for the dynamic trio of Berkly Catton, Connor Roulette and Chase Bertholet.
All three posted a combined 295 points in the regular season but have only registered a measly three points in as many outings this series.
Prince George leads the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final 3-0 with Game Four set for tonight (Wednesday) at 6:35 from the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
It’s worth waiting for the third look at this goal. Trust us. https://t.co/gmz3oXENdp pic.twitter.com/9W7l8e2xwz
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 3, 2024
If the Chiefs stave off elimination, Game Five will be played on Friday, in Washington state.
Elsewhere, in the WHL Playoffs, the Portland Winterhawks took a commanding 3-0 series lead on Tuesday night outlasting the Victoria Royals 6-5 on Vancouver Island.
Easton Armstrong played the role of overtime hero for the Saskatoon Blades as they have a 2-1 series lead following a 4-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders.
The extra-time dramatics continued in Central Alberta as Samuel Drancak scored at 6:30 of overtime to give the Red Deer Rebels a 4-3 win against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Rebels lead the series 2-1.
Luke Mistelbacher drove the offensive bus for the Swift Current Broncos as they dumped Miguel Marques and the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3.
The Broncos lead best-of-seven 3-0.
And, goalie Jari Kykkanen and sniper Tij Iginla paced the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-1 Game 3 victory over the Wenatchee Wild in the Okanagan.
The Rockets are up 2-1 in the best-of-seven.
Victory in game 3!#PGWhiteOut . #ForTheNorth . #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/S3932N1Ljt
— xy – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 3, 2024