Royals hit seven to end losing streak
VICTORIA 7 PRINCE GEORGE 3
The Prince George Cougars’ Don Cherry blazer-inspired jerseys were loud at CN Centre on Saturday night.
But the Victoria Royals expressed themselves even louder, especially in the third period with four unanswered goals, en route to a 7-3 Western Hockey League victory.
“It was a good team effort. We said in the [second-period break] let’s stick to the fundamentals, and we did,” said Victoria coach Dan Price.
“We stuck with the fundamentals and the highpercentage plays.”
The victory was important for Victoria because it snapped a four-game winless streak and kept the Royals (36-24-6) three points ahead of the Vancouver Giants in the race for home-ice advantage in their likely first-round playoff series in the two-versus-three B.C. Division bracket.
The Giants, 5-4 victors Saturday over the Kamloops Blazers, retain two games in hand.
The Royals victory was highlighted by an offensive assault from the blueline. Scott Walford, a Montreal Canadiens third-round draft pick best known for taking care of the defensive end, scored his first goal of the season. Chaz Reddekopp, the Los Angeles Kings-signed defenceman returning from injury for the first time since Jan. 13, also scored. The mobile defencemen Jared Freadrich and Kade Jensen, the latter who added an assist, completed the goal quad for the Victoria blue line.
Not that the forward corps was lacking on this night for the Royals. Matthew Phillips recorded three assists and now has 104 points to break the old record of 101 for the most points in a season in the 12-season history of the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise.
Tyler Soy, Victoria’s secondleading scorer, added a goal and two assists.
“Tyler had jump and energy all game and set the tone for the night,” Price said. Rookie forward Tarun Fizer scored on the power play for his first goal of the season as the Royals went 3-3 on the oddman.
Noah Gregor, a fourth-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks, continued his dangerous antics around the opposition crease and scored his fifth goal in the last five games.
Victoria’s penalty kill, which held Prince George 1-9 in a 2-1 overtime loss on Friday, was again stellar on Saturday in shutting down the Cougars’ power play 0-3.
Veteran Griffen Outhouse, who grew up in the nearby communities of Likely and Williams Lake in north-central B.C., and rookie Dean McNabb combined for 21 saves in the Victoria crease with McNabb allowing the three Prince George goals.
The Cougars (23-34-8) were on an unlikely three-game winning streak. They will not make the playoffs but were coming off an upset sweep of B.C. Division-leading Kelowna with 4-1 and 7-6 wins over the Rockets and the 2-1 OT victory over the Royals on Friday.
Saturday’s game ended on testy note in the final minute with Victoria’s Russian import forward Andrei Grishakov holding his own in a fight with Jackson Leppard of Prince George, with a rash of other penalties called during the melee.
The Royals return to Blanshard Street to host the Spokane Chiefs on Tuesday and Wednesday and the Cougars on Friday and Sunday.