Royals settle for split in Prince George

The Prince George Cougars snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Victoria Royals on Sunday afternoon at the CN Centre in northern B.C.

The victory avenged a 5-1 Cougars loss the night before to the Royals as the Victoria club had snapped a three-game losing skid of its own.

Veteran forward Dante Hannoun, with his third goal in two games, scored for the Royals with sophomore forward Tarun Fizer and defenceman Matthew Smith scoring the other Victoria goals.

Vladislav Mikhalchuk led the Cougars with two goals, including the annual Teddy Bear Toss goal at 7:14 of the first period.

Rookie Victoria goaltender Brock Gould, making his second consecutive start in place of injured veteran Griffen Outhouse, made 19 saves.

Canada U-18 goaltender Taylor Gauthier made 21 saves for Prince George.

Victoria fell to 13-10 while the Cougars moved to 11-14-3.

The Royals continue their road trip and are in Kamloops to play the Blazers (11-11-2) on Wednesday before moving on to Kelowna to meet the Rockets (12-15-2) on Friday and heading to the Langley Events Centre to play the B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants (20-6-2) on Saturday night.

The Royals return to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to play the Portland Winterhawks (16-10-2) next Tuesday and Wednesday.