The much-anticipated catfight between the Prince George Cougars and Medicine Hat Tigers Sunday at CN Centre certainly lived up to the hype.
In a battle of Western Hockey League division leaders in front of a near-sellout crowd of 5,628, Cougars defenceman Bauer Dumanski ripped a shot from the top of the left circle for the go-ahead goal and Terik Parascak ended the suspense with an empty-netter to cap a 7-5 Cougars’ win.
“It was a crazy game, there was a lot of action in it, it was physical, there was penalties and lots of goals being scored, but it was just a fun game to be a part of,” said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb.
Parascak and linemate Ondrej Becher each fired two goals, while Riley Heidt and Hudson Thornton also scored for Prince George. The Tigers got two goals from Cayden Lindstrom and singles from Hunter St. Martin, Rhett Parsons and Shane Smith.
Twice the Cougars had to come back from deficits. Lindstrom’s second of the game gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead 3:13 into the third, which set the stage for Thornton, whose point blast at 14:40 found the net for his fifth power-play goal, setting a new single-season record for Cougars’ defencemen.
Dumanski's first of the season came with just 1:17 left on the clock. Defence partner Viliam Kmec whiffed on a shot attempt and the puck slid to Dumanski, whose snapshot sailed in behind goalie Evan May.
“I saw him miss it, it came right to me and I got the lane, took the shot and saw it go in, it was surreal moment for sure, I don’t score many,” said Dumanski, an 18-year-old from Lockwood, Sask.
Heidt, the game’s first star, had a five-point night with a goal and four assists.
“He was unbelievable, when he gets like that and plays with emotion, that’s the type of game he can play - that was his best game of the year,” said Lamb.
Ty Young made 23 saves to improve to 7-2.
Parascak’s two goals left him with a league-leading 15. The WHL rookie ranks third the scoring race with 25 points, just behind teammates Zac Funk (28) and Becher (26).
Funk, who had a five-point game in Friday’s 7-1 win over Kamloops, was tossed out of Sunday’s game late in the first period for a check-to-the head major penalty.
The Cats (9-3-0-0) begin a five-game Eastern Division tour Saturday in Moose Jaw. The Tigers (7-4-1-0) won three of five on their BC Division tour.
The 50-50 pot hit $157,155 and one lucky fan in attendance at the rink went home with half of that.
