Skip to content

Cougars double up on the Royals

Photo courtesy of the Prince George Cougars

Saturday night at the CN Centre in front of 4300-plus the Prince George Cougars earned a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the Victoria Royals. A night removed from a disappointing 2-1 set-back the Cougars responded with three first period goals and a complete 60-minute effort en route to their 28th victory of the season. Colby McAuley and Jared Bethune had two points each for the Cougars while Nikita Popugaev buried his first in a Cougars uniform. Ty Edmonds made 22 saves on 23 shots to earn his 22nd victory of the season.

Less than a minute into the game the Royals were assessed a penalty but a rare miscue with the Cougars net empty resulted in an early 1-0 lead for Victoria. With Ty Edmonds at the bench and an extra attacker on the ice for Prince George, Jansen Harkins attempted to pass the puck from the right wing wall back to the waiting Cougars defenceman. Regrettably there was no defenceman to be found and the puck glided all the way back into the Cougars zone and into the net for an own goal that was eventually credited to Carter Folk.

Fittingly it was Harkins who kick-started the Cougars comeback at the 5:42 mark of the first when he deflected home a Sam Ruopp point shot past Royals starter Griffen Outhouse for his 10th of the season. Then at 10:01 Tate Olson blasted home his fourth of the season off a one-timer from the right point on a power play to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.

Richard Matvichuk’s crew kept coming. At 15:30 Colby McAuley parked himself in front of the Victoria goal and knocked home a Kody McDonald pass from in close for his 14th an a 3-1 Cougars lead. The shots in the first were 20-5 for Prince George who took that 3-1 lead into the break.

Early in the second newcomer Nikita Popugaev put the CN Centre crowd into a frenzy when he knocked home his own rebound from on close at the 1:28 mark to make the game 4-1. Popugaev’s first goal as a Cougar and 23rd of the season was assisted by both Jesse Gabrielle and Brendan Guhle.

Through two periods the score was 4-1 Prince George and the shots were 31-13 favoring the home side.

Tyler Soy would add a power play marker for Victoria at the 10:21 mark of the final period to move the Royals within two but that’s as close as they’d come. Ty Edmonds made some clutch saves late in the game and the Cougars were able to hold on to earn their first victory of 2017, their 14th victory at home this season and their 28th victory overall.

Victoria finished the night one-for-four on the power play while the Cougars power play went one-for-five. The final shots were 42-23 for the Cougars.

Next up: A four-game road trip that sees the Cougars roll through Alberta starting Tuesday, January 10th in Red Deer.

NOTES:

  • Congratulations to 21-year-old Josh Goyer who won a 2016 Nissan Versa tonight at the game!
  • The next Cougars home game takes place Tuesday, January 17th at home against the Portland Winterhawks.
  • The WHL Trade Deadline is scheduled for 2:00 PM local time on Tuesday, January 10th.

– Prince George Cougars

Sports
April 16, 2025The Prince George Spruce Kings couldn’t beat Quentin Miller as the Chilliwack Chiefs won Game 7 on Tuesday night by a 4-0 score, advancing to the second round and ending the Spruce Kings season. After a scoreless first period which saw the Chiefs out-shoot the Spruce Kings 16-6, Caleb Elfering snapped one home from the […] [...] Read more...
April 16, 2025Sixty-seven Western Hockey League players have been listed by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s final rankings ahead of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.Towering Seattle defenceman Radim Mrtka (Havlickuv, Cze. / Seattle Thunderbirds) is the top-ranked WHL skater at fifth overall. Mrtka is the first WHL import player ranked in the top five since Edmonton […] [...] Read more...
April 14, 2025Charles Gravel earned the first star with a 24-save shutout as the Prince George Spruce Kings forced Game 7 on Tuesday night with a 2-0 win over the Chilliwack Chiefs on Sunday night in front of 1,543 fans at Kopar Memorial Arena. After a scoreless first period, Owen Goodbrand went in on a two on […] [...] Read more...
April 12, 2025Charles Gravel made 42 saves as the Prince George Spruce Kings fell 2-1 to the Chilliwack Chiefs on Friday night at the Chilliwack Coliseum. Prince George was unable to register a shot on goal in the opening frame, giving up 13 Chiefs shots but Gravel stood tall and kept it scoreless after 20 minutes. In […] [...] Read more...

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *