“We are a pretty good team that’s in a funk right now.”
No truer words were spoken by Prince George Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb after the Western Conference-leading Cats had to scratch and claw for a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen in front of 4,112 fans at CN Centre on Thursday.
Hudson Thornton’s one-time blast with 1:40 remaining in the third period uplifted the Cougars who put forth a Jeckell and Hyde performance for the second consecutive night.
Y’ALL THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO OVERTIME? https://t.co/ZfnTrtWdz9 pic.twitter.com/UlirIQJLaw
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) December 29, 2023
The contest had no shortage of fireworks as Hitmen star blueliner Carter Yakemchuk was booted from the game 24 seconds in following a questionable check from behind on Cats forward Matteo Danis.
Yakemchuck received a major for checking from behind, a game misconduct and five minutes for fighting after dropping the gloves with Cougars rookie enforcer Aiden Foster.
While on a power-play, Keaton Dowhaniuk kickstarted the Cougars offense as his point shot rifled into the yawning Calgary cage as goaltender Ethan Buenaventura lost his balance attempting to re-establish position.
Zac Funk has 37 goals this season, and this one was *also* exactly how we drew it up 👍 https://t.co/xE7sOGCJVG pic.twitter.com/jiCGaz5JMf
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) December 29, 2023
Five minutes later, former Hitmen Zac Funk burned his former team capping off a Terik Parascak effort with a wrap-around effort that squirted past Buenaventura.
Funk, who was acquired from Calgary at last year’s WHL Trade Deadline has put up a Chase Wheatcroft-like season tallying 37 goals and 64 points.
Nineteen of his tallies have been on the man-advantage.
Zac Funk has 37 goals this season, and this one was *also* exactly how we drew it up 👍 https://t.co/xE7sOGCJVG pic.twitter.com/jiCGaz5JMf
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) December 29, 2023
The tide turned quickly in the second as the Cats took and allowed the Hitmen to dictate the pace of the game, outshooting the hosts 15-6.
“I didn’t mind our first period but they played well in the second period and had us on the ropes and we took a penalty. Funker takes a penalty, giving them a four-minute power-play and tie it up. Then after that we had to grind it out,” added Lamb.
“We weren’t playing well at all – they picked it up a notch and we couldn’t catch up to it because we made too many mistakes. We were not winning one on one battles and when you start playing like that a lot of things happen that aren’t very good,” added Lamb.
An ill-advised turnover by veteran forward Carlin Dezainde led to a 2-on-1 for Calgary as David Adaszynski sent a cross-ice pass to Ethan Moore who beat an outstretched Ty Young, trimming the deficit to one.
In the third, Calgary continued to come in waves at the Cougars who were on their heels. Overage forward Sean Tschigerl let a shot go from inside the slot and Young made a desperation save with his glove, unfortunately, it crossed the line, and the goal was awarded, tying the game at 2-2.
Young delivered one of his best games of the season stopping 35 of 37 Hitmen shots, collecting the game’s first star.
Buenaventura on the other hand, made 20 saves in the defeat.
“Younger was outstanding and that is what we expect out of him. He had a lot of energy and was making big saves and that is exactly what he did tonight.”
🎥SAVE OF THE NIGHT🎥
Piece of cake at point blank!@RealCdnSS | @PGCougars | @Canucks | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/A4LZm1LZIY
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 29, 2023
Despite a 13-7 record, the first half was a bit of a struggle for Young who has posted a pedestrian 3.15 goals against average and .885 save percentage.
After the game, Young told MyPGNow.com, the holiday break came at the perfect time.
“It was good to have that mental reset and coming back I feel a little bit more motivated and was ready to get that second half started.”
The 19-year-old from Coaldale, Alberta is in an uphill battle to re-claim the starting goaltender’s job due to the near picture-perfect performance of Josh Ravensbergen.
Ravensbergen ranks second among goaltenders as a rookie with a 2.07 goals against average and .927 save percentage to go along with six shutouts.
“He’s been playing unreal and that has been good for the team,” added Young. “I am going to be ready to go whenever I get the nod and I think our team is pretty confident in whichever goalie is in net and that is pretty huge coming down the stretch.”
Calgary outshot PG 37-23 while both teams went a combined 2-for-5 on the power-play.
The Cougars improved to 25-10-0-0 on the season. Calgary drops to 13-16-3-1,
PG hits the road for five consecutive games starting on Saturday against the Kamloops Blazers (9-20-3-2).