ROYALS TAME COUGARS

Victoria clinches 4-2 victory over Prince George.

For Immediate Release

Friday, February 17, 2012

Victoria, BC – In a Friday night matchup at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals squared off against the Prince George Cougars in the first of a two-game set. Keith Hamilton got the start in net for the Royals, while the Cougars gave the nod to Drew Owsley.

The game began with a physical tone as the first 12 minutes of the game featured five fights between the two clubs. The most notable tilt came at 10:41 between the Royals’ Jesse Zgraggen and the Cougars’ Jesse Forsberg. After Zgraggen landed several blows, the Victoria defender came away with the decision against the Prince George captain. Robin Soudek and Jamie Crooks then dropped the gloves simultaneously with the Cougars’ Cody Carlson and Greg Fraser less than a minute later to close out the fights for the period. Prince George opened the game’s scoring at 13:59 on a shot from Caleb Belter. The Cougars’ forward beat Hamilton glove side after he received a pass from Ricard Blidstrand to give Prince George a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Victoria got on the board at the five minute mark of the second period off the stick of Brandon Magee. The Victoria forward put home his 20^th of the season on the man advantage after he converted Ben Walker’s pass from behind the net. Steven Hodges gave the Royals the lead at 9:05 after Prince George failed to clear the puck and instead turned it over to Hodges in front of the net. Victoria extended their lead to two at 12:22 when Logan Nelson shook off a Prince George defenseman below the goal line and connected with Jamie Crooks who buried it in front. The Royals then added a powerplay goal at 17:32 when Dakota Conroy banged home a loose puck in front of the net to give Victoria a 4-1 lead heading into the final frame.

Prince George got the lone goal of the third period at 12:12 from Jake Mykituk. The Cougars’ initial shot went off the mask of Hamilton, but Mykituk was able to put the rebound in the back of the Royals’ net to cut the lead in half. Victoria’s special teams protected the lead as they killed off three penalties in the final period to preserve the win. Royals 4 Cougars 2.

Victoria went 2/5 = 40% on the power play, while Prince George was 0/7 = 0.00%. The Royals outshot the Cougars 26-20.

The Victoria Royals are in action again Saturday, February 18^th in the second game of the doubleheader against the Prince George Cougars. Game time is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. For further details or to purchase your tickets today, visit the Victoria Royals Ticket Office, www.victoriaroyals.com, or call 250-220-7889.

-30-