The Victoria Royals held off a spirited effort from the Prince George Cougars, playing their first playoff game since 2011, to record a 5-3 victory Friday night before 4,629 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The B.C. Division second-seed Royals lead the best-of-seven opening-round Western Hockey League playoff series 1-0, with Game 2 tonight in the Memorial Centre.
There was no rust on this Cat, as the B.C. Division third-seed Cougars led 2-0 after the opening period on the first two of their three power-play goals on the night.
“We knew [Cougars] would come with desperation, and we played with nerves in the first period, until we settled in,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
“In the playoffs, you have to stay level and can’t get too caught up in the emotion.”
Veteran Royals forward Brandon Magee delivered a hat-trick in the second period to stake Victoria to a 4-2 lead heading into the final period. The game hung in the balance until Taylor Crunk’s empty-net goal decided it late in the third.
“[Cougars] special teams had a lot of compete tonight. We were fortunate to come back. That was the result of sticking to our game plan. Our leadership group did a good job of staying calm,” said Magee, of the first-period shocker Victoria faced.
“I got a couple of lucky bounces in the second period [for the hat-trick],” added the self-effacing Magee, of his four-point night.
It was the second playoff hat-trick in the nine-year history of the Chilliwack Bruins/Royals franchise, the first coming from graduated Royals forward Jamie Crooks exactly three years ago to the day in a first-round game against Kamloops.
The game turned in the second period on not only Magee’s three goals, but also a remarkable individual effort goal from Royals forward Greg Chase, who showed why he is under NHL contract to the Edmonton Oilers. Chase undressed the Cougars defence to give Victoria the 3-2 lead at 12:20 of the second.
The night was instructional.
“You can’t get too high or too low in the playoffs,” said Chase.
“We did a good job of staying even-keeled. It’s a long series.”
Victoria goalkeeper Coleman Vollrath made the save of the game at a key juncture in the middle period, sliding to his right on a two-on-one Prince George break to take away a goal from Chase Witala.
Alex Forsberg and defenceman Joe Hicketts had two assists each for Victoria.
The Cougars, with a roster boasting only 28 games of WHL playoff experience compared to Victoria’s 207, got odd-man goals from Witala, Tate Olson and Kody McDonald.
Victoria’s sixth-ranked power play was ineffectual at 0-3 against the worst penalty-killing team in the WHL.
Vollrath made 28 saves for Victoria and Ty Edmonds 20 for Prince George.
ICE CHIPS: Sixteen-year-old rookie Josh Anderson of Duncan, the six-foot-three Canada U-17 defenceman considered the future of the Cougars blue-line, was a scratch Friday.
