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Victoria Royals get better of Prince George Cougars again

VICTORIA 2 PRINCE GEORGE 1 The Victoria Royals might look back to their tight games against the Prince George Cougars as being pivotal to their WHL fortunes this season.
LOGO-Victoria Royals.jpg
Victoria Royals

VICTORIA  2
PRINCE GEORGE  1

The Victoria Royals might look back to their tight games against the Prince George Cougars as being pivotal to their WHL fortunes this season.

The Royals (9-7-1) moved to 4-0 on the season against the Cougars with a 2-1 victory Saturday night at CN Centre in Prince George. Each of the four Victoria victories was decided by one goal, two in shootouts.

That’s the kind of thing teams either look to the heavens in thanks for, or rue, in tight playoff races at the end of seasons.

The Royals swept their three-game road swing, which began with a game in Kelowna against the Rockets.

Prince George’s Josh Maser opened scoring Saturday before the game was three minutes old. It was the second game in a row in which Shane Farkas has allowed the first shot he faced in a game.

But the 20-year-old goalie slammed the door shut the rest of the way with 15 saves in the choking affair. Taylor Gauthier, an invitee to Boston Bruins rookie/prospects camp and former Canada Under-18 goaltender, made 16 saves for Prince George (4-13-2).

Kaid Oliver tied it on the power play at 12:19 of the second period. Sean Gulka stole the puck for an unassisted turnover goal for the winner at 3:02 of the third period.

In a quirk, the Royals were not assessed a penalty in the game.

The Cougars didn’t have the Belarussion Bullet.

Minsk-native Vladislav Mikhalchuk was again not ready to go Saturday after rejoining the Cougars mid-week since beginning the season in pro with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL and affiliate Torpedo Gorky of the VHL in Russia.

The 20-year-old forward, who led the Cougars in scoring last season with 25 goals and 25 assists, was expected in the line-up. But that Moscow to Frankfurt to Vancouver to Prince George flight is apparently a tough one.

The Royals next play Friday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in a compelling match-up against Lethbridge.

The Hurricanes feature Buffalo Sabres-prospect Dylan Cozens, the seventh overall selection in the first round of the 2019 NHL draft, and 20-year-old D-Jay Jerome, whom the Royals traded away over the summer for conditional draft picks and who has eight goals and 17 points this season for Lethbridge.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com