Prince George Cougars swiped away victory in B.C. division title

The Prince George Cougars swiped away a shootout victory to lock up the B.C. Division title for the 2023-24 season on Saturday night at Prospera Place.

Wearing special theme Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jerseys that are currently up for auction, the Rockets hung around with the high-flying Prince George Cougars in a game that saw ten goals scored between the two. Tied at five through regulation and overtime, the game headed to a shootout where Ondrej Becher scored the lone goal in the skills competition.

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Tij Iginla picked up the puck along the Cougars blueline, charging his way into the attacking zone Iginla threw on the brakes at the right faceoff dot to cut to the slot where he beat Joshua Ravensbergen with the opening goal midway into the first period.

The Cougars power play got to work early in the second frame with a pair of goals. Hudson Thornton (14) unleashed a shot 39 seconds in to tie things up at one before Zac Funk added another strike on the power play before the five-minute mark to push the Cougars ahead. Funk found the back of the net again two minutes later to give Prince George a two-goal lead. Iginla then responded for Kelowna before Riley Heidt pushed back. A trailing Max Graham jumped on Andrew Cristall’s rebound to make it a one-goal game heading into the final frame.

Standing in front of the Cougars net, Hiroki Gojsic jammed the puck in to tie the game 4:45 into the third period. With Gabriel Szturc sitting in the box Funk completed the hat trick late in the period to restore the Cougars lead but Gojsic responded seconds late to force overtime.

The Cougars shot first in the shootout. Andrew Cristall, Tij Iginla and Gabriel Szturc fired for Kelowna.