Cats Clinch Home Ice With 7-1 Win Over Royals
PRINCE GEORGE BC – The Prince George Cougars continued their winning ways against the Victoria Royals with a 7-1 victory on Friday at the CN Centre. The Cats have clinched home ice for the opening round of the WHL Playoffs.
Riley Heidt, Chase Wheatcroft, and Hudson Thornton all had three-point nights, and Tyler Brennan got the win in goal, making 20 saves on 21 Victoria shots.
Zac Funk started the scoring at 4:08 of the opening period jamming on by Braden Holt, to make it 1-0. Just passed the midway mark of the period, on a Cougar power-play, Koehn Ziemmer hammered a one-timer by Holt to make it 2-0 at 11:54. The Royals got one back with Matthew Hodson throwing the puck off a Cougar skate and in to make it 2-1 at 16:13. The Cougars led by a goal after one.
In the final 40 minutes, it was all Prince George. Chase Wheatcroft, Cayden Glover, Hudson Thornton, Arjun Bawa, and Riley Heidt all scored for Prince George to put this one with out of reach for Victoria. In the final 40 minutes, the Cougars outshot the Royals 28-12.
GAME NOTES
-The Cougars clinch 4th place in the Western Conference and will be hosting the 1st round of the WHL playoffs
-Hudson Thornton ties Dustin Byfuglien’s record for goals in a single season by a Cougars defenceman
– Tyler Brennan is 15-2-1 in his last 18 starts
-Tonight’s game had a combined 120 penalty minutes
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring
Cougars: Funk, Ziemmer, Wheatcroft, Glover, Thornton, Bawa, Heidt
Royals: Hodson
Goaltending
Cougars: Tyler Brennan (W) 60:00 (1 GA, 20 Saves)
Royals: Braden Holt (L) 60:00 (7 GA, 31 Saves)
Shots
Cougars: 38
Royals: 21
Three Stars:
- PG: Riley Heidt (1G 2A)
2.PG: Hudson Thornton (1G 2A)
3.PG: Cayden Glover (1G)
Next Game: Saturday March 18th against the Victoria Royals at the CN Centre at 6:00.
