After a wild roller-coaster ride at Prospera Place in Kelowna that saw them blow a three-goal third-period lead, the Prince George Cougars corrected their nosedive and got back on course Wednesday as the hottest team in the Western Hockey League.
With just 46 seconds left in overtime on a delayed penalty that allowed the Cats to keep up the pressure on the Kelowna Rockets, Prince George captain Hudson Thornton ripped a high shot into the Rockets net for a 6-5 victory.
That moved the Cougars (44-15-1-3) back into top spot in the Western Conference, one ahead of the idle Portland Winterhawks.
After allowing four goals on eight shots in less than eight minutes of the third period, the Cougars tied it with 2:28 left. Oren Shtrom let go a top-of-the-circle wrister that appeared to deflect off a Kelowna defender’s stick before it ticked off the post and in.
Head coach Mark Lamb replaced starting goalie Joshua Ravensbergen after Tij Iginla put the Rockets ahead 5-4 7:25 into the third. Ty Young came in off the bench and had just three saves to make in the rest of the period, One of those stops was off the stick of Andrew Cristall, vying for his 40th goal and 104th point, was a game saver.
Young also came up big to deny Cristall’s backhand attempt on a breakaway about three minutes into OT.
With the Cougars leading 4-1 to state the third period, the Rockets took advantage of the visitors’ defensive breakdowns that led to odd-man rushes and missed assignments. The 17-year-pld Ravensbergen, who was sharp through the first 40 minutes while his team was outshooting the Rockets 21-8, didn’t get much support.
Max Graham started it for Kelowna and rapid-fire goals followed from Michael Cicek, Cristall and Iginla. But the Cougars, who are now 31-0 in games in which they lead after two periods, found a way.
Matteo Danis, Terik Parascak, Borya Valis and Zac Funk (with his team-record 64th of the season) gave the Cougars their seemingly comfortable lead.
Funk has 110 points and is within two points of tying Quinn Hancock’s all-time Prine George record for points in a season. He’s one off the pace of WHL scoring leader Jagger Firkus of Moose Jaw.
Riley Heidt, who got hacked in front of the net by defenceman Carter Kowalyk to draw the overtime penalty, had two assists and is right behind Funk with 109 points.
The win over their division rivals extended the Cougars’ consecutive point streak to 14 games. They’re 12-0-1-1 over that stretch. With five games left in the season they’re now within one win of matching the Prince George franchise record for wins, set in 2016-17.
The Cougars continue their four-games-in-five-days roadtrip with a two-game set in Victoria Friday and Saturday, then will move on to Langley for a Sunday matinee against the Vancouver Giants.
