Ty Edmonds made 41 saves and Jesse Gabrielle scored the only
goal as the Prince George Cougars (25-14-1-1, 52pts) blanked the visiting
Victoria Royals 1-0 Friday night.
“In a 1-0 game the bounces can go either way, and they ended
up getting a bounce and winning the game.” said Head Coach Dave Lowry in his first game back from
coaching Team Canada at the World Juniors in Finland,
“We had opportunities, and passed up some quality chances
to put pucks in areas we probably should have directed towards the net…”
The victory pulls the Cougars into a tie with Royals (24-15-1-3,
52 pts) for 2nd in the West and BC Division, and will meet again
Saturday.
Victoria
netminder Griffen Outhouse was the games 2nd star stopping 37 of 38
shots.
“My defense did a really good job of letting me see
pucks,” said the modest Outhouse who previously played for the Caribou
Cougars, winning the Macs Midget Tournament.
“It’s an easy one to get up for, the old barn I’m playing
in, lots of friends and family here – it’s a lot of fun.”
Outhouse made some highlight reel stops off of Gabrielle and
a diving glove save off of Jared Bethune, both in the middle frame.
“Griffen played a very solid game, gave us a chance to
win and unfortunately we didn’t get it done for him.” Said Lowry.
Gabrielle broke a scoreless draw early in the third period,
banging home a rebound for his team leading 26th.
“They got a lot of second chances, their goal was off a
rebound,” said Joe Hicketts in his first game back after missing 13 while
playing for Canada at the World Juniors.
“I don’t think we generated enough of the those…they made
it hard to get to their net.”
The Royals went 0 for 3 on the power play while shutting
down both Cougar man advantages.
“We want to be a disciplined team,” said Lowry,
“When we do get opportunities on the power play – that has
to be our game breaker.”
Victoria’s
record against Prince George falls
to 2-2-0-1.
“Tonight was a playoff atmosphere, and we just have to
have a little bit more from some guys.”
The Cougars have now won back to back games, and the Royals
had their streak of points in back to back games snapped.
- Marlon Martens
Victoria
Royals 0 at Prince George Cougars 1 - Status: End of Game
Friday, January 8, 2016 - CN Centre - Prince George, BC
Victoria 0 0 0 - 0
Prince George 0 0 1 - 1
1st Period-
Friday, January 8, 2016 - CN Centre - Prince George, BC
Victoria 0 0 0 - 0
Prince George 0 0 1 - 1
1st Period-
No Scoring.
Penalties-Anderson P.g (interference), 3:04; O'Brien P.g
(slashing), 12:24; Bobylev Vic (roughing), 13:22; Gagnon Vic (interference),
17:15.
2nd Period-
2nd Period-
No Scoring.
Penalties-Harrison P.g (kneeing), 14:59.
3rd Period-
3rd Period-
1, Prince George,
Gabrielle 26 (Witala, O'Brien), 1:16.
Penalties-Forsberg Vic (roughing), 4:58; Harkins P.g (cross
checking), 4:58; Hicketts Vic (interference), 15:44; Gabrielle P.g
(unsportsmanlike cnd.), 15:44.
Shots on Goal-
Shots on Goal-
Victoria
14-15-12-41.
Prince George
10-13-15-38.
Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 /
3;
Prince George 0
/ 2.
Goalies-
Victoria,
Outhouse 6-3-1-1 (38 shots-37 saves).
Prince George, Edmonds
13-7-1-0 (41 shots-41 saves).
A-2,717
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Fraser Lawrence (10).
Linesmen-Nick Albinati (3), Bevan Mills (98).
