As the Prince George Cougars exited the ice at the Langley Events Centre, the only thing on their minds was the health and well-being of Hunter Laing.
An ugly check to the head major penalty and subsequent game misconduct to Vancouver Giants forward Matthew Edwards on Laing put a stain on a 6-3 victory for PG on Sunday.
Laing laid on the ice for several minutes and was taken off the ice by medical personnel just after the 10:47 mark of the second period.
Luckily, the 17-year-old from Kelowna reported to have movement in all his extremities and was transported to hospital for further evaluation.
PG found themselves in a 2-2 tie after the game’s opening 20 minutes.
Carlin Dezainde opened the scoring for the Cats taking advantage of a Terik Parascak feed, beating Giants goalie Matthew Hutchinson.
Roughly eight minutes later, PG product Cameron Schmidt put Vancouver back on even terms with his 30th of the season.
Both clubs then traded goals 28 seconds apart to end the first period as Calgary Flames prospect Jaden Lipinski found the back of the net against Josh Ravensbergen, while Parascak clapped right back for the visitors prior to the buzzer.
While the check to the head infraction by Edwards turned the game on its ear, – it would be the Giants who would pounce on a Cougars team still in shock over their fallen teammate.
Lipinski notched his second of the game connecting on a Ty Halaburda pass.
But, like many times before, the Western-Conference leading Cats found a way to claw back. Zac Funk, fresh off becoming PG’s new single-season record holder in points, lit the lamp for the 66th time this WHL campaign while the major penalty to Edwards was being served.
Like a jolt of lightning, the Cougars continued to pour on the offense in the third period with a trio of goals.
Funk found the back of the cage once more in the third, which turned out to be the game-winner at even strength. The 20-year-old from Coldstream then filled the role as playmaker, setting up rookie Jett Lajoie for his fifth of the season, extending the PG lead to 5-3.
Parascak put the final nail in the Vancouver coffin with his second of the contest into an empty net. In addition, the Lethbridge product became the first rookie in Cougars history to amass 100 points in a season.
Prince George outshot the Giants 35-28 while going 1-for-3 on the power-play. Vancouver never went on the man-advantage.
Ravensbergen made 25 saves for the victory in the Cougar net while Hutchinson stopped 30 of 35 for Vancouver.
With two games remaining, PG (47-15-1-3) has a two-point lead over the Portland Winterhawks (46-15-3-1) for top spot in the Western Conference. The Winterhawks, who have a game in hand, fell 5-4 in overtime to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Sunday.
The Cougars are a sizzling 15-0-1-1 in their last 17 outings. Their last regulation loss came on February 2nd against Vancouver, a 3-2 decision also from the Langley Events Centre.
Prince George finishes the regular season with a home-and-home against the Kamloops Blazers (20-39-3-3), which begins Friday at the Interior Savings Centre.
Saturday is Retro Night, which will also include another Mega 50-50 jackpot.