VICTORIA 2
PRINCE GEORGE 1
Thomas Wolfe was wrong. Apparently, you can go home again.
Victoria Royals sophomore goaltender Griffen Outhouse, a northern B.C. boy from the tiny community of Likely, returned to his familial region and was outstanding Saturday night in backstopping the Royals to a 2-1 victory over the Cougars in Prince George.
The gritty Western Hockey League victory, over the No. 6 ranked major- junior team in the country, halted a four-game Victoria (15-13-2) losing streak before 3,807 fans at CN Centre.
The 18-year-old Outhouse made 31 saves while Royals forward Jack Walker had two assists. Second-period goals by Mitchell Prowse, the second of the season by the 16-year-old rookie defenceman, and Ryan Peckford on the power play, staked Victoria to a 2-0 lead. Kody McDonald pulled Prince George to within one at 5:49 of the third period, but the Cougars (20-7-2) could not find the equalizer against Outhouse.
Prince George’s 20-year-old goaltender Ty Edmonds was his usual reliable veteran self in making 28 saves and was named the second star of the game, behind Outhouse.
“Any time your goalie is the first star of the night, that’s usually indicative of a win,” Royals head coach Dave Lowry said.
“We’d like to have some wins where our goalie wasn’t the first star, but, hey, I would take it every night.”
Victoria’s penalty kill held Prince George 0-7.
“Our special teams were the difference tonight,” Lowry said.
“We challenged our group after last night [a 4-2 Prince George victory on Friday].” Both teams were light on the blueline Saturday. The Royals, already without injured Scott Walford, also lost Ryan Gagnon when the Victoria captain was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct at 4:50 of the first period.
Missing from the Cougars line-up was defenceman Brendan Guhle, called up by Buffalo of the NHL on an emergency basis, because of injuries on the Sabres blueline.
The Royals concluded their two-game set in Prince George 1-1 and are now 1-3 against the Cougars on the season.
The long trip up north will be followed by an equally lengthy dip down into the U.S. for a bizarrely routed three-game set that will take the Royals to Spokane on Wednesday, out to Oregon to meet Portland on Friday, and then back the next night again across to eastern Washington state to play Tri City.
