Royals aim to find offence in Cougars’ den

GAME DAY: VICTORIA AT PRINCE GEORGE 7 p.m. at the CN Centre TV: None / Radio: The Zone 91.3 FM

The Victoria Royals, who have mustered only one goal in each of their last three games, have relied on veteran goaltender Griffen Outhouse to keep them competitive.

But Outhouse, injured in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Saskatoon, will be missing tonight and Sunday when the Royals are in Prince George to play the Cougars.

That is not good news for a team whose offensive well has suddenly run dry in a three-game WHL losing skid. Rookie Brock Gould will start in the Victoria crease.

Head coach Dan Price believes the goals will come to help out the goaltending, whoever is in the nets. The goals will have to come, unless the Royals plan on winning a lot of games 1-0.

“The chances we are getting have been equal to, or greater than, those of our opponents,” said Price.

But pressure with no payoff is no great reward. The Royals have displayed an alarming lack of finishing. “It’s a matter of relaxing with the puck,” said Price.

“Every team goes through stretches like this. Even our team last season did, and that team had a lot of skilled finishers. Things tend to open up. Often it’s after a goal that goes in off a back, or off a shin pad, or something like that.”

The Royals need to have the scoring taps flowing again. Especially the Victoria power play, which has gone 0-15 during the three-game losing streak, 0-18 over the last four games and just 1-25 over the last five games.

The second-place Royals (12-9) make the longest trip within the B.C. Division this weekend. The third-place Cougars (10-13-3) have also lost their last three games, so one of those streaks will end tonight.

“Prince George is extremely physical, in fact one of the most physical teams in the league, so we know it is going to be a tight-checking weekend,” said Price.