Recap: Victoria 2 - Prince George 1 (Shoot Out)

Patrik Polivka made 38 saves while Alex Gogolev scored once and added the winner in the shoot out to lead the Victoria Royals (28-19-1-3, 60pts) past the Prince George Cougars (16-30-2-5, 39pts) 2-1 on the road Saturday night.

Gogolev with the shoot out winner

The Royals celebrate the win

“For us this was a must win, obviously we give up a goal late but we were able to find a way to win in a shoot out.” – Head Coach Dave Lowry

The Royals earn the split against the Cougars after falling in Prince George 6-2 one night earlier.

Lowry was pleased with the bounce back effort,

“It was a nice response of a game and I thought we did a lot of little things real well, good for the guys to stay with it and find a way to win.”

Victoria takes the 8 game season series 6 games to 2.

Polivka stopped 4 Cougars in the shoot out including Jacobs

The Royals wrap up 3 in 3 nights on the road picking up 2 points after falling to the Rockets Thursday and Cougars Friday.  They return home for a pair against the Thunderbirds Tuesday and Wednesday before heading out on a 6 game road trip.

Victoria is now just 2 back of Spokane for 5th in the West, with a game in hand on the Chiefs.

Royals forward Tim Traber about gaining ground on the Chiefs.

“It’s huge, we’re tyring to get up there, we’re trying to catch them and these next couple of games are going to be big for us to try and catch them.”

Jack Walker in his first fight.

After a scoreless first, Gogolev scored the lone goal of the middle frame converting a rebound off a Jordan Fransoo point shot.  Jack Walker was involved in his first fight against Jake Mykitiuk and the Royals rookie took the decision.

With just 1:34 left in the third, Dallas Ehrhardt fired a one timer past Polivka to tie the game at 1-1.

Overtime settled nothing and the shoot out went 4 deep before Gogolev scored the lone tally for the win.  Mac Engel stopped Steven Hodges, Brandon Magee and Jamie Crooks to take the shoot out loss.  Patrik Polivka earned his 24th win in stopping Zach Pochiro, Troy Bourke, Colin Jacobs and Caleb Belter.

Lowry on his netminder’s 3rd star effort,

“This was a tough building for Patrik (Polivka) they throw a lot of pucks, traffic and he had to make a lot of big saves…it’s no different than any other night our expectation is our goalies have to give us a chance to win and tonight we got that.”

Tim Traber blocks a point shot.

The Royals went 0 for 2 on the power play, while stopping all 4 Cougar man advantages.

-mm

Victoria Royals 2 (SO) at Prince George Cougars 1 - Status: Final SO
Saturday, February 2, 2013 - CN Centre - Prince George, BC

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

1st Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-Jacobs P.g (holding), 11:31; Carroll Vic (roughing), 16:19; Pochiro P.g (roughing), 16:19; Fushimi Vic (tripping), 18:18; Traber Vic (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 19:11; Jacobs P.g (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 19:11.

2nd Period-
1, Victoria, Gogolev 19 (Fransoo), 5:41.

Penalties-Hodges Vic (holding), 2:51; Walker Vic (major-fighting), 8:29; Mykitiuk P.g (major-fighting), 8:29.

3rd Period-
2, Prince George, Ehrhardt 5 (Pochiro), 18:26.

Penalties-Fontaine P.g (hooking), 1:03; Deacon Vic (tripping), 3:24; Walker Vic (hooking), 6:41.

OT Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout –
Victoria 1 (Hodges NG, Magee NG, Crooks NG, Gogolev G),
Prince George 0 (Pochiro NG, Bourke NG, Jacobs NG, Belter NG).

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 10-9-5-4-1-29.
Prince George 9-14-13-3-0-39.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 / 2;
Prince George 0 / 4.

Goalies-
Victoria, Polivka 24-11-1-2 (39 shots-38 saves).
Prince George, Engel 7-17-1-5 (28 shots-27 saves).

A-1,647
Referees-Tyler Adair (58), Chris Crich (20).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Brendon Creyke (131).