Vladimir Bobylev scored a goal and added two assists, to
help the Victoria Royals (47-16-3-3, 100pts) get past the visiting Prince
George Cougars 4-3 Sunday afternoon.
The Royals had built up a 4-0 second period lead before the
Cougars (36-29-3-2, 77pts) scored the next three.
“I thought we skated and created all kinds of
opportunities in the first period, but got away from it in the second and
third.” Said Head Coach Dave Lowry.
It was a scoreless final frame, and Victoria went on to win
their 10th in a row, and hit 100 points to tie the franchise record set
2 seasons ago. The Royals remain first
in the WHL standings.
“We got off to really good start,” said Lowry on
hitting the century mark,
“You put trust and belief in your room, and it goes a
long way. We’ve had different guys step
up at critical times, every night it seems to be somebody else.”
Victoria wins
the season series with a record of 5-2-0-1, against Prince
George who occupy the 1st Wild Card spot, 7th
in the West.
 |
| Bobylev was the first star, scored his 26th of the year |
Victoria out
shot the Prince George 31-18, and
twice held the Cougars to just 2 shots in a frame, the first and third period.
Coleman Vollrath earned his 31st victory in back
to back starts, while Nick McBride was relieved after allowing 3 goals on 9
Royals shots. Ty Emdonds finished the
game stopping 21 of 22.
Vollrath stopped a pair of Prince
George breakaways, Jansen Harkins short handed and
Brad Morrison to keep the game 4-2. He
later denied Morrison the hat trick and equalizer in the third with a great
shoulder stop.
Victoria went
1 for 3 on the power play, now scoring with the man advantage in 8 straight
games. Prince
George did not earn a single power play.
“That’s something we’ve stressed for a while now,”
said Jack Walker who scored his 33rd,
“We have to play a disciplined game. Obviously we’re not the biggest team in the
league so how we’re going to win the physical game is through special teams.”
The Royals got first period goals from Alex Forsberg,
Bobylev, and Walker who also added an assist and extended his point streak to 9
games and 19 points (9g 10a).
Forsberg pushed his streak to 10 games and 15 points (5g
10a). Tyler Soy saw his 9 game streak
with 19 points snapped.
Rookie defenseman Scott Walford scored his 1st WHL
goal with the man adavantage with a point shot to put the club up 4-0.
“It was definitely a dream come true,” said the
Coquitlam native, and first round bantam pick of the Royals,
“Watching the WHL growing up and finally getting my first
– it was definitely a dream come true.”
The Cougars got a pair from Brad Morrison, while Luke
Harrison banged home his 10th of the year.
Victoria has
won 12 straight at home, all part of a franchise best 25 victories at home this
season.
The Royals have outshot the opposition in 16 straight with a
record of 14-1-1-0 in that span.
Just 3 games remain in the regular season for Victoria,
in Kelowna Wednesday, at Everett
Friday, and wrap up at home against the Silvertips Saturday.
- Marlon Martens
Prince George Cougars 3 at Victoria Royals 4 - Status: Final
Sunday, March 13, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Prince George 0 3 0 - 3
Victoria 3 1 0 - 4
1st Period-
Sunday, March 13, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Prince George 0 3 0 - 3
Victoria 3 1 0 - 4
1st Period-
1, Victoria,
Forsberg 28 (Jarratt, Hannoun), 4:41.
2, Victoria, Bobylev 26 (Walker, Hicketts), 5:55.
3, Victoria, Walker 33 (Bobylev, Gagnon), 7:49.
Penalties-Dosanjh Pg (roughing), 11:52.
2nd Period-
2nd Period-
4, Victoria, Walford 1 (Bobylev, Price), 8:18 (PP).
5, Prince George,
Morrison 27 (Lakusta, O'Brien), 8:34.
6, Prince George,
Harrison 10 (Almeida, Bethune), 10:06.
7, Prince George,
Morrison 28 (O'Brien, Olson), 16:11.
Penalties-McAuley Pg (roughing), 0:59; Kadlec Pg (checking
to the head), 6:44; McAuley Pg
(roughing), 6:44; Hannoun Vic
(slashing), 6:44.
3rd Period-
3rd Period-
No Scoring.
Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-
Shots on Goal-
Prince George
2-14-2-18.
Victoria
12-12-7-31.
Power Play Opportunities-
Prince George 0
/ 0;
Victoria 1 /
3.
Goalies-
Prince George,
McBride 12-10-1-1 (9 shots-6 saves); Edmonds
21-16-2-1 (22 shots-21 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 31-13-0-2 (18 shots-15 saves).
A-6,769
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Chris Crich (20).
Linesmen-Michael McGowan (41), Bevan Mills (98).
