Recap | Mar. 15 | Cougars (6) @ Royals (1)
Victoria, BC – Spring is here and hockey season continues as the Victoria Royals (28-28-5-4) opened up their weekend series against the Prince George Cougars (45-15-1-3) at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre during County Music Fest. The weekend series was the start of the final countdown of the 2023-24 regular season with playoff positioning proving to be a tightly contested affair in the WHL’s Western Conference. Tonight’s meeting marked the seventh of eight on the season with Prince George, the two sides hadn’t met since mid-February at the CN Centre. Victoria was aiming to halt a four-game losing skid, while the Cougars sought their fifth consecutive victory.
Between the pipes, it was Braden Holt (20-15-4-3, 3.51 GAA, ,897 save percentage) getting his sixth consecutive start for Victoria, while Prince George continued to utilize their goaltending tandem system with Vancouver Canucks prospect Ty Young (20-11-0-2, 2.83 GAA, .901 save percentage) getting the start on Friday.
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While the Royals had two major parts of their blueline return on Friday, they still started the game a man down, only able to dress 11 forwards due to the absence of Reggie Newman, Robin Sapoušek, and Alex Edwards.
Prince George earned the opening goal of the contest as rookie-of-the-year candidate Terik Parascak (38) found the back of the net. Parascak showed off his shot as he unleashed a wicked wrist shot that found the top corner, evading the reach of Holt. The 17-year-old NHL Draft-eligible forward registered his 12th point in seven games against the Royals this season.
Victoria found the equalizer 13 minutes into the period as leading goal-getter Tyson Laventure (28) was in the right place at the right time. The 21-year-old forward earned the powerplay marker with a display of poise and patience as he followed up on a Justin Kipkie rebound. With the goal, Laventure snapped a three-game scoreless drought as Victoria earned a massive boost midway through the frame. As Kipkie drew the secondary assist, his point total rose to 52 on the season which ties him for the fourth most by a Royals’ defencemen in a single-season in team history.
That would be the scoreline heading into the second intermission, shots in the opening twenty favoured Prince George 20-15.
Victoria jumped out to a quick start in the middle frame, firing the first six shots on goal as they peppered Ty Young, but he was up to the challenge, stopping all six shots. That turned into a momentum boost for Prince George as they restored their lead on their first shot of the period. Hudson Thornton (17) made his way over the Royals’ blue line and fired a shot towards the net that made its way past Holt and into the back of the Royals’ net. Moments later, the Cougars would strike again. Oren Shrtrom (12) found the net on this occasion as the Cougars extended their lead to two goals.
The scoreline would stay the same until the dying stages of the period. Victoria started a parade to the penalty box as the middle frame progressed, with three minor penalties taking over the second half of the period. With just three seconds remaining in the period, Terik Parascak (39) struck again as the rookie made the most of his late-period chance, burying his second of the contest to make it 4-1 in favor of the visiting Cougars. Zac Funk and Hudson Thornton earned the helpers on the scoring play as they carried a three-goal advantage into the third.
Prince George added to their lead early in the third period as Hudson Thornton (18) doubled his tally to extend the Cougars lead to four goals. The marker from Thornton was one of two goals scored by the Cougars in the third, as Jett Lajoie (4) banged home a rebound with just over two minutes to go. That was the final tally in the contest as the Cougars earned a 6-1 victory over the Royals.
