Recap: VIC 4 - PG 2

Jared Rathjen earned his 1st WHL victory 4-2 over Prince George.

Jared Rathjen in his hometown, made 26 saves for his first WHL victory as the Victoria Royals defeated the Cougars 4-2 in Prince George Friday. 

Hayden Rintoul scored his 15th in the win.

The Royals move 4 points ahead of the 10th place Cougars, and take sole possesion of 7th, now 2 ahead of the idle Thunderbirds.  The Silvertips remain 9th, 3 back of the Royals after a 4-2 loss at Tri City.  Seattle has 2 games in hand, while Everett and Prince George have one.

Victoria never trailed after opening the scoring on Hayden Rintoul’s greal solo effort.  Dakota Conroy and Austin Carroll added two more to break a 1-1 second period tie.  Prince George cut the lead to one in the third, but Robin Soudek added his 23rd into an empty net, taking the first of the two game set.

Prince George got goals from Greg Fraser and Chase Witala.


Rathjen picked up an assist in his 1st win with 26 saves, while Drew Owsley stopped 21 in his 31st loss.

Rathjen commented on the victory:

 
Austin Carroll who notched the game winner, also fought Linden Springer in the third.  With the goal, Hayden Rintoul continues to lead all defenseman in power play markers with 13, and extends his point streak to 3 games (2g 2a).

The Royals power play went 1 for 2 on the night, now 6 for 15 (40%) over their last four.  Victoria stopped all three Prince George man advantages.

The two teams will meet for an eighth and final time in Prince George Saturday night, the Royals leading the series 5 games to 2.

Enio Sacilotto, the Royals assistant coach talked about the victory:

Post game enio sacilotto by Voice_VicRoyals
Victoria Royals 4 at Prince George Cougars 2 - Status: End of Game
Friday, February 24, 2012 - CN Centre - Prince George, BC

Victoria 1 2 1 - 4
Prince George 1 0 1 - 2

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Rintoul 15 (Rathjen), 6:12 (PP).
2, Prince George, Fraser 15 (Elynuik, Gibb), 14:23.

Penalties-Mykitiuk P.g (tripping), 5:10; Soudek Vic (checking from behind), 16:13.

2nd Period-
3, Victoria, Conroy 9 (Forsyth), 11:30.
4, Victoria, Carroll 7 (Jones, Cote), 17:55.

Penalties-Asuchak P.g (tripping), 5:46.

3rd Period-
5, Prince George, Witala 5 (Fontaine, Tkatch), 2:43.
6, Victoria, Soudek 23   19:58 (EN).

Penalties-Forsyth Vic (roughing), 0:28; Carroll Vic (major-fighting), 4:39; Springer P.g (major-fighting), 4:39; Cote Vic (hooking), 11:15.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 8-10-7-25.
Prince George 7-9-12-28.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 1 / 2; Prince George 0 / 3.

Goalies-
Victoria, Rathjen 0-5-1-0 (28 shots-26 saves).
Prince George, Owsley 18-30-0-1 (24 shots-21 saves).

A-1,755
Referees-Andy Thiessen (11), Nathan Wieler (18).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Richie Rogers (101).