After a rough night at the office, (5-1 Saturday loss to Moose Jaw) the Prince George Cougars peeled themselves off the mat and delivered a performance much closer to form.
Koehn Ziemmer tallied along with a pair of markers from standout rookie Terik Parascak in the first period to help the Cougars to a 4-0 victory over the Regina Pats on Sunday before 3,118 fans at the Brandt Centre.
The offensive fireworks began at 4:29 when a misplay at centre ice by the Pats led to a partial breakaway by Ziemmer who went five-hole on Regina import netminder Ewan Huet.
Not sure what is nicer, the feed or the goal 🤔@LAKings @mnwild https://t.co/O6dZmu4DGz pic.twitter.com/JeOgFvXMAT
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) October 29, 2023
Roughly ninety seconds later, Parascak capped off a give-and-go sequence with Zac Funk, going high-glove over Huet doubling the Cougar lead.
The 17-year-old from Lethbridge continued to run roughshod on the Pats at the conclusion of a Cougars power-play.
Funk from the corner delivered a pass through the Regina defense leading to an easy deflection for Parascak making it 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Just another day for the super rookie 🤷♂️#NHLDraft https://t.co/rV1430c2xY pic.twitter.com/CSrxRzh0LP
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) October 29, 2023
Trivia time! Who leads the entire CHL in goals?
A) Terik Parascak
B) Anyone else#NHLDraft https://t.co/k1ehBj8ojW pic.twitter.com/94CEsxX7My— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) October 29, 2023
Parascak leads the entire Canadian Hockey League in goals with 17 as a rookie – three more than Michael Horth of the Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) and Carson Rehkopf of the Kitchener Rangers (OHL).
While neither team lit the lamp in the second period, the only compelling sequence came at the 3:00 mark where Funk dropped the gloves with Pats blueliner Corbin Vaughan who got the better of the overage forward.
To add insult to injury, Funk was also assessed an instigator penalty along with a ten-minute misconduct.
Ondrej Becher added to the Cougars’ lead in the third as the puck boomeranged back to the Czechia native following a shot-block by Jaren Brinson.
PG outshot Regina 25-23 overall while going 0-for-8 on the power-play.
The Pats (8-6-1-0) went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Cougars rookie netminder Joshua Ravensbergen collected the 23-save shutout, his second in four starts.
Berger shutout 😎 https://t.co/I09bAV4rRi pic.twitter.com/q89BrJTeBZ
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) October 30, 2023
Funk finished the contest with a game-high three points (all assists).
PG improves to 10-4-0-0 on the season, extending its lead in the BC Division to five points over the Kelowna Rockets (7-6-1-0).
The Cougars also sit first in the Western Conference and the WHL.
Next up for the Cougars is a mid-week tilt in Brandon on Wednesday against the Wheat Kings (7-6-2-1).
Puck drop is at 5 pm Pacific Time and you can catch all the action on 94.3 The Goat with Cole Waldie.