Sports stats



WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Edge Rockets in Overtime in Wild Wednesday Night Clash

March 14, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


KELOWNA, BC - After losing a 4-1 lead in the third period, the Prince George Cougars lived for the dramatic, tying the game late, and winning 6-5 in Overtime courtesy of captain Hudson Thornton

With the win, the Cougars improved their point streak to 14 games which ties a franchise record.

The game kicked off with a pair of fights with Chase Pauls and Max Graham at 1:41 and then Aiden Foster dropped the gloves with Trae Johnson at 3:01. Prince George drew first blood with a tip-in goal from Matteo Danis off an Oren Shtrom feed, but Kelowna quickly responded, levelling the score at 1-1 with Hiroko Gojsic's 21st of the season. Undeterred, the Cougars re-took the lead in the first period, courtesy of a wrist shot from rookie sensation Terik Parascak, his 37th of the season, giving the Cats a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.

The Cougars continued to supply lots of offensive zone time and got rewarded twice for their efforts. Borya Valis took the puck off a turnover from goaltender Jari Kykkanen as he coughed up the puck to the Cougar forward in the slot at 9:14. Exactly five minutes later, on a PG power-play, Washington Capitals prospect Zac Funk fired the puck off the back bar past Jari Kykkanen to propel the Cats to a three-goal lead through 40 minutes.

In the third, the game got turned upside down. The Rockets exploded for four goals in less than six minutes. Max Graham got it started at 1:43, followed up by Michael Cicek (5:42) and Andrew Cristall (6:46) to tie the game. Mark Lamb was forced to call his timeout to try and slow down the Rocket attack. The Rockets, however, didn't stop there as they scored 59 seconds later, as Tij Iginla scored off the rush to put the Rockets ahead 5-4. Ty Young came in to replace Josh Ravensbergen after the Iginla marker at 7:25. The Cats then started to gain more offensive zone time and earned multiple chances. It wasn't until the 17:32 mark when Oren Shtrom wristed a shot from the left circle that bounced off a body and past Kykkanen to tie the game at five and ultimately force overtime.

In the extra frame, Ty Young came up massive for the Cougars, robbing sniper Andrew Cristall with his left pad on a clearcut breakaway. In the final minute of overtime, on a delayed penalty, Hudson Thornton wired a wrist shot from the left circle past Kykkanen to give the Cougars a 6-5 overtime victory to begin their four-game road trip.

FINAL SCORE:

PG: 6 KEL: 5 (OT)

FINAL SHOTS:

PG: 40 KEL: 23

POWER-PLAYS:

PG: 1-2 KEL: 0-2

GOALTENDING:

PG: Joshua Ravensbergen - 47:28 - 13/18 | Ty Young - 16:49 - 5/5

KEL: Jari Kykkanen - 64:14 - 34/40

3 STARS:

1. KEL: Tij Iginla (1-1-2)

2. KEL: Max Graham (1-0-1)

3. PG: Terik Parascak (1-1-2)

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central