PREVIEW: Cougars Battle Royals to Begin 3 Games in 3 Nights
VICTORIA, BC – Tonight, at the Save on Foods Memorial Centre, the Prince George Cougars take on the Victoria Royals and look to set a new franchise record as they aim for points in 15 consecutive games.
The Prince George Cougars collected points in their 14th consecutive game with a 6-5 OT victory over the Kelowna Rockets, Wednesday at Prospera Place. Oren Shtrom tied the game in the final minutes and then captain Hudson Thornton delivered the OT heroics.
PG GOAL SCORERS: Danis, Parascak, Valis, Funk, Shtrom, Thortnon
GOALIE: Ravensbergen – 13/18 (.722) / Young – 5/5 (1.000)
PP: 1/2
PK: 2/2
COUGARS LAST FIVE RESULTS, Record: 4-0-1-0
| DATE | RESULT | GWG | PG GOALIE | OPP. GOALIE |
| March 1, 2024 | PG [4] vs SPO [5] (OT) | Crampton | Ravensbergen | Cowan |
| March 2, 2024 | PG [5] vs SPO [4] (OT) | Heidt | Young | Michaluk |
| March 8, 2024 | PG [5] vs VAN [3] | Parascak | Ravensbergen | Mirwald |
| March 9, 2024 | PG [6] vs VAN [3] | Funk | Ravensbergen | Mirwald/Hutchison |
| March 13, 2024 | PG [6] at KEL [5] (OT) | Thornton | Ravensbergen/Young | Kykkanen |
COUGARS UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| DATE | TIME (PDT) | OPPONENT | VENUE |
| March 15, 2024 | 7:00pm | at Victoria Royals | Save on Foods Memorial Arena |
| March 16, 2024 | 6:00pm | at Victoria Royals | Save on Foods Memorial Arena |
| March 17, 2024 | 4:00pm | at Vancouver Giants | Langley Events Centre |
| March 22, 2024 | 7:00pm | at Kamloops Blazers | Sandman Centre |
| March 23, 2024 | 6:00pm | vs Kamloops Blazers | CN Centre |
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Sep. 29/2023 – at Victoria (11-2 PG)
Sep. 30/2023 – at Victoria (5-3 PG)
Dec. 8/2023 – at Prince George (5-3 VIC)
Dec. 9/2023 – at Prince George (1-0 PG)
Feb. 9/2024 – at Prince George (4-1 PG)
Feb. 10/2024 – at Prince George (9-6 PG)
Mar. 15/2024 – at Victoria
Mar. 16/2024 – at Victoria
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Nov. 18/2022 – at Victoria (9-2 PG)
Nov. 19/2022 – at Victoria (5-2 PG)
Feb. 3/2023 – at Prince George (8-1 PG)
Feb. 4/2023 – at Prince George (4-2 PG)
Feb. 25/2023 – at Victoria (6-5 PG/OT)
Mar. 10/2023 – at Victoria (8-3 PG)
Mar. 11/2023 – at Victoria (6-3 PG)
Mar. 17/2023 – at Prince George (7-1 PG)
Mar. 18/2023 – at Prince George (7-6 VIC/SO)
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS
Goals (64): Zac Funk
Assists (75): Riley Heidt
Points (110): Zac Funk
PIMS (110): Aiden Foster
Plus/Minus (+48): Zac Funk
COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:
Zac Funk – 98 career assists (2 away from 100)
Hudson Thornton – 186 career points (14 away from 200)
Terik Parascak – 94 career points (6 away from 100)
WHO’S HOT
Zac Funk has points in 9 straight games (13-7-20)
Riley Heidt has points in 11 of his last 12 games (7-18-25)
Ondrej Becher has points in 8 of his last 9 games (5-11-16)
Hudson Thornton has points in 10 of his last 11 games (4-10-14)
5 GAMES LEFT: The Cougars enter tonight with a 44-15-1-3 record (92 points) on the season through 63 games which has won the BC Division and leads the Western Conference. The Cats are 24-7-1-1 at home and 20-8-0-2 on the road this season.
THIS TEAM!: The Cougars are two wins away from becoming the winningest PG Cougars team in team history. The 2016-17 squad won 45 games. This years’ Cats are at 44 with five games to go in the regular season.
DC GETS FUNKY: 20-year-old sniper Zac Funk has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals. Funk is the third 20-year-old in the last two seasons to sign an NHL deal (Chase Wheatcroft, 2023, DAL – Jaxsen Wiebe, 2023, ANA).
CLOSING IN ON MORE HISTORY: With five games remaining on the Cougar regular season schedule, both Zac Funk and Riley Heidt are closing on becoming the new single-season point leaders in PG Cougar history. Funk (110 points) and Heidt (109 points) are closing in on Quinn Hancock’s record where he owned 112 points in 1997-98.
BC DIVISION CHAMPIONS: For the first time since 2017 and for the second time in franchise history, the Prince George Cougars were crowned BC Division champions on Saturday, February 24th after a 6-5 shootout win over the Kelowna Rockets.
AGAINST THE BC DIVISION: The Cougars enter tonight’s contest against the Royals with a 21-4-0-2 record against the BC division and are 35-12-1-3 against the Western Conference.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
WHEN: Friday, March 15th – 7:00 pm
WHERE: Save on Foods Memorial Centre – Victoria, BC
LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat
WATCH: WHL Live
