VICTORIA 4
PRINCE GEORGE 3
If the Victoria Royals need a late-season refresher tutorial, it would be a 101-level course on how to retain a lead.
For the second night in a row, Victoria relinquished an advantage in Prince George against the Cougars. But on Saturday, the Royals salvaged a 4-3 WHL shootout victory after blowing a 3-0 lead at CN Centre.
Victoria squandered a -0 lead in losing 4-3 to the Cougars on Friday.
Jack Walker scored for Victoria and St. Louis Blues-prospect Zach Pochiro — who has played eight games of pro this season for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL — for Prince George in the initial three-shot section of the shootout Saturday. It went 11 rounds before Taylor Crunk ended it in victory for Victoria.
Royals coach Dave Lowry saw a measure of justice in the result.
“The right team won . . . we hit three posts in the second period,” he said.
The two-game set was a possible preview of a first-round playoff series.
Victoria has clinched a playoff berth and will finish second in the B.C. Division and play the third-place team, which right now is the Cougars. Prince George, on a tear of late, enhanced its third seeding with the three weekend points against Victoria.
Both the Cougars (28-33-5) and Royals (35-27-4) have six games remaining in the regular season. The Cougars are now 13 points behind Victoria, which clinched second place with Saturday’s victory and is guaranteed home ice in the opening round of the post-season.
Goals by defenceman Chaz Reddekopp in the first period, and Brandon Magee and defenceman Ryan Gagnon’s first of the season in the second period, put the Royals ahead 3-0. But for the second night in a row, the great Cougars chip-away commenced. It began with Tyler Mrkonjic scoring late in the second period. Third-period goals by defenceman Tomas Andrlik and Chase Witala, the latter on the power play with three minutes left in regulation time, tied it 3-3 before the Royals could say Holy Cariboo.
Victoria was in penalty trouble all night but Prince George could only convert one of its seven power plays, including a rare two in overtime.
“The game was on the line at that point [OT],” noted Lowry.
Royals graduating 20-year-old forward Magee had a two-point night and finished his regular-season career against Prince George with 17 goals and 44 points in 36 games.
Coleman Vollrath made 26 saves in regulation and extra time for Victoria. Ty Edmonds made 31 for Prince George.
Victoria won the eight-game season series against the Cougars 5-3.
ICE CHIPS: Prince George centre Jansen Harkins, son of Cougars GM Todd Harkins, is the 18th-ranked North American skater for the 2015 NHL draft, making him a likely first-rounder. He assisted on Witala’s tying goal on the power play in the third period. . . . The Royals are in Kelowna to play the league-leading Rockets on Wednesday.
