If you left Saturday’s game early, thinking the Prince George Cougars were out of it, you left too soon.
Trailing 4-2 to the Victoria Cougars in the second of a two-game weekend set at CN Centre, the Cougars clawed back with two goals in the final 3:17 of regulation time to secure a point in the Western Hockey League standings.
It went to a shootout and the Royals outscored the Cats 2-1 in the skills session to go home with a 5-4 victory.
But the pro-Cougar crowd of 3,620 certainly got its money’s worth, especially considering their team’s late third-period comeback.
Trailing by two, Riley Heidt was set up in the slot by linemate Terik Parscak and ripped a shot into the Royals’ net for his second goal of the game to pull Prince George to within a goal at the 16:43 mark.
Then in the final minute, with goalie Cooper Michaluk on the bench, Cougar defenceman Viliam Kmec batted down a clearing attempt deep in the Victoria end and Borya Valis got to the loose puck and chipped it across the crease for Kmec, who batted it in to tie the game 4-4 with 34 seconds left.
Parascak nailed the post early in overtime and after five minutes of OT it went to the eighth round of the shootout to decide it. Brayden Boehm’s goal in the second round was answered right away by Cougars sniper Koehn Ziemmer, and Logan Pickford ended it in Round 8.
The Cougars, 6-3 winners over the Royals Friday, took three of a possible four points and improved to 7-4-2-2. They sit fourth in the WHL Western Conference standings, tied in points with Victoria and Spokane. The Royals also gained three points in PG and sport an 8-3-1-1 second-place record, six points back of the first-place Everett Silvertips.
Heidt’s seven-point weekend left the Minnesota Wild draft pick with 20 points, including eight goals. He’s one point behind Valis (six goals, 15 assists), one of seven players with 21 points. Nathan Behm of the Kamloops Blazers and Silvertips forward Tyler McKenzie are leading the scoring race, each with 22 points.
The Cougars host the defending WHL-champion Moose Jaw Warriors Tuesday at CN Centre. The Warriors (3-9-2-0), who have lost seven straight, rank last in the Eastern Conference.
