Recap: PG 3 - VIC 1

Logan Nelson is stopped by Drew Owsley in a 3-1 Cougars Win

Caleb Belter scored the game winning goal and added an assist to lead the visiting Prince George Cougars past the Victoria Royals 3-1 Saturday night.

Drew Owsley stopped 28 shots for his 18th win and 2nd star honours.  Keith Hamilton stopped 7 of 10 in the first, before being replaced by Jared Rathjen who saved all 17 he faced.

Tim Traber fights Reid Jackson

Victoria remains tied for 7th with Seattle, just 1 point up on Everett. The Cougars move to within two points of the Royals with two games in hand and will wrap up the season series next weekend in Prince George.  Victoria leads the series 4 games to 2, taking a split in the two game weekend set.

Prince George jumped to a three nothing lead in the first on goals by Daniel Gibb, followed by Caleb Belter on the power play.  Nanaimo product Greg Fraser scored shorthanded at the 18:55 mark, but just 27 seconds later on the same man advantage, Hayden Rintoul’s point shot got past Owsley to bring the score to 3-1 after 20 minutes. 

There would be no scoring in the final two frames.

Royals assistant Coach Ben Cooper on the loss:
 
It was their 5th sell out of the season, 7006.

Hayden Rintoul scores his 14th while on the power play for Victoria

Victoria’s penalty killing which was perfect in it’s previous four games, surrendered one goal on five PG attempts, as the Cougars also went one for five.

The Royals out shot the Cougars 29-27, putting out more shots than the opposition in five straight games and 7 of their last 8.

After five fights in Friday’s 4-2 Victoria victory, there would be two more Saturday.  In the second Keegan Kanzig fought Campbell Elynuik, and in the third Tim Traber squared off against Reid Jackson.

Jamie Crooks 8 game point streak (6g 3a) was snapped in the loss.  Ben Walker added an assist for 3 helpers in his last two games and was third star.

Up next, the Royals head out on the road for 3 games, starting with the number one team in the West, the Kamloops Blazers who’ve dropped their last two.  The Royals have won once against the Blazers, 4-2 on home ice on Jan 27th (1-5-1-0). 

Prince George Cougars 3 at Victoria Royals 1 - Status: Final
Saturday, February 18, 2012 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Prince George 3 0 0 - 3
Victoria 1 0 0 - 1

1st Period-
1, Prince George, Gibb 1 (Belter, Elynuik), 8:23.
2, Prince George, Belter 4 (Carlson, Blidstrand), 16:39 (PP).
3, Prince George, Fraser 14   18:55 (SH).
4, Victoria, Rintoul 14 (Soudek, Walker), 19:22 (PP).

Penalties-Jackson P.g (holding), 0:59; Walker Vic (tripping), 15:21; Springer P.g (slashing), 18:20.

2nd Period- No Scoring.

Penalties-Jones Vic (roughing), 1:14; Mykitiuk P.g (roughing), 8:17; Kralik Vic (roughing), 8:17; Elynuik P.g (major-fighting), 12:08; Kanzig Vic (major-fighting), 12:08; Bourke P.g (tripping), 14:13; Soudek Vic (interference), 15:30; Nelson Vic (high sticking), 16:06; served by Mykitiuk P.g (bench), 20:00.

3rd Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Jackson P.g (major-fighting), 8:23; Traber Vic (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 8:23; Siwak P.g (tripping), 15:58.

Shots on Goal-
Prince George 10-10-7-27.
Victoria 9-9-11-29.

Power Play Opportunities-
Prince George 1 / 5; Victoria 1 / 5.

Goalies-
Prince George, Owsley 18-29-0-1 (29 shots-28 saves).
Victoria,
Hamilton 17-30-1-4 (10 shots-7 saves);
Rathjen 0-4-1-0 (17 shots-17 saves).

A-7,006
Referees-Jeff Ingram (82), Colby Smith (57).
Linesmen-Jason Cramer (122), Ryan Gibbons (73).