PREVIEW: Cougars Battle Thunderbirds in Final Meeting of Season Series
PRINCE GEORGE, BC – Tonight, at the CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars aim for their sixth consecutive win on home ice as they host the Seattle Thunderbirds for the final time this season at 7:00 pm.
The Prince George Cougars roared back into the win column with a dominant 8-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds. 14 different Cougars found the scoresheet, and Josh Ravensbergen collected his 20th victory of the season, making 25 saves.
PG GOAL SCORERS: Valis, Dumanski, Dezainde, Heidt, Lajoie, Becher, Heidt, Thornton
GOALIE: Ravensbergen 25/26 (.961)
PP: 2/3
PK: 2/2
COUGARS LAST FIVE RESULTS, Record: 4-0-0-1
| DATE | RESULT | GWG | PG GOALIE | OPP. GOALIE |
| February 9, 2024 | PG [4] vs VIC [1] | Danis | Ravensbergen | Kraus |
| February 10, 2024 | PG [9] vs VIC [6] | Valis | Ravensbergen/Young | Holt |
| February 16, 2024 | PG [7] vs KAM [1] | Dezainde | Ravensbergen | Ernst/Sanche |
| February 17, 2024 | PG [1] at KAM [2] (SO) | Keller (SOW) | Young | Sanche |
| February 19, 2024 | PG [8] vs SEA [1] | Dumanski | Ravensbergen | Ratzlaff/Michnik |
COUGARS UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| DATE | TIME (PDT) | OPPONENT | VENUE |
| February 20, 2024 | 7:00pm | vs Seattle Thunderbirds | CN Centre |
| February 23, 2024 | 7:00pm | at Kamloops Blazers | Sandman Centre |
| February 24, 2024 | 6:00pm | at Kelowna Rockets | Prospera Place |
| March 1, 2024 | 7:00pm | vs Spokane Chiefs | CN Centre |
| March 2, 2024 | 6:00pm | vs Spokane Chiefs | CN Centre |
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Jan. 5/2024 – at Seattle (2-1 PG)
Jan. 30/2024 – at Seattle (5-2 PG)
Feb 19/2024– at Prince George (8-1 PG)
Feb. 20/2024 – at Prince George
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Oct. 28/2022 – at Prince George (5-4 SEA)
Oct. 29/2022 – at Prince George (4-1 PG)
Nov. 1/2022 – at Seattle (6-3 SEA)
Dec. 13/2022 – at Seattle (8-1 SEA)
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS
Goals (51): Zac Funk
Assists (63): Riley Heidt
Points (93): Riley Heidt
PIMS (108): Aiden Foster
Plus/Minus (+42): Zac Funk
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS
Wins (20): Joshua Ravensbergen
Save % (.919): Joshua Ravensbergen
Goals Against Average (2.18) – Joshua Ravensbergen
Shutouts (6): Joshua Ravensbergen
COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:
Zac Funk – 196 career points (4 away from 100)
Hudson Thornton – 194 career games played (6 away from 200)
Ty Young – 38 career wins (2 away from 40)
Zac Funk – 93 career assists (7 away from 100)
Carlin Dezainde – 48 career assists (2 away from 50)
WHO’S HOT
Carlin Dezainde has points in 9 of 10 games (9-4-12)
Terik Parascak has points in 11 of 12 games (2-12-15)
Zac Funk has 14 points in his last 6 games (7-7-14)
Riley Heidt has points in 4 consecutive games (3-6-9)
Josh Ravensbergen has won 6 of his last 7 starts
TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
13 GAMES REMAIN: The Cougars enter tonight with a 37-15-0-3 record (77 points) on the season through 55 games which leads the BC Division and second in the Western Conference. The Cats are 20-7-0-1 at home and 17-8-0-2 on the road this season.
AGAINST THE US DIVISION: The Cougars enter tonight’s contest against the Thunderbirds with a 13-8-0-1 record against the US division and are 29-12-0-3 against the Western Conference.
X MARKS THE SPOT: On Saturday, February 17th, the Cougars clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive season. Prince George is one of four teams thus far in the WHL to earn the ‘x’ beside their name (Portland, Everett, Saskatoon).
THIS IS 50: Zac Funk netted his 50th and 51st goals of the season last night. That makes Funk just the third PG Cougar in history to reach that plateau (Quinn Hancock, 97-98 and Todd Fiddler, 14-15).
WE WANT THE FUNK: Zac Funk is flirting with Cougar’s single-season history. The 20-year-old from Coldstream, BC owns 22 power-play goals and is one power-play tally away from surpassing Chase Wheatcroft for the most power-play goals by a Cougar in a single season.
DEZZY DELIVERING: Cougars forward and 19-year-old Carlin Dezainde enters tonight’s game with points in nine of ten games. Despite dealing with an injury earlier in the season, the product of Calgary, Alberta is putting together is best WHL season of his career, scoring 20 times.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN:
WHEN: Tuesday, February 20th – 7:00 pm
WHERE: CN Centre – Prince George, BC
TICKETS: HERE
LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat
WATCH: WHL Live
