There's just something about playing in Prince George that brings out the best in Griffen Outhouse.
The way he's been playing lately, it doesn't seem to matter for the Victoria Royals goalie. He's been slamming the door on Western Hockey League opponents in virtually every city the Royals play.
The 18-year-old native of Likely, a two-hour drive from Prince George, looked right at home Friday in the crease at CN Centre, where he stopped 25 of 26 shots to deliver the Royals to a 2-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars.
Outhouse picked up where he left off last week in Victoria, where he made 83 saves and gave up just one goal in back-to-back wins over the Cougars. He also backstopped the Royals to victories in Kamloops and Kelowna and on Tuesday was named the Vaughn CHL goalie of the week.
Outhouse wasn't as busy as his Cougars' counterpart, Ty Edmonds, whose team was outshot 38-26, but the Royals' ace was sharp when he had to be, holding off a late surge by the Cougars in the final minute. Outhouse also had a bit of luck on his side in the dying seconds when Brendan Guhle grazed a screened shot off the post with six Cougars in close vicinity applying the pressure.
It was the fifth-straight win for the Royals (22-15-4-0) who inched within eight points of the Cougars (27-11-2-0), still the top dogs in the WHL's B.C. Division.
Vladimir Bobylev and Regan Nagy scored for Victoria. Kody McDonald was the lone Cougars' marksman.
The Cougars had to consider themselves extremely fortunate to get out of the first period down by only one goal. The Royals made them look nervous, creating at least a half-dozen quality chances while outshooting the Cats 19-8 through 20 minutes.
The Royals came close to lighting the lamp early in their first power-play chance of the night. Calgary Flames draft pick Matthew Phillips, all of five-foot-six, 141 pounds, drew Edmonds out of the net, forcing the Cats' goalie to loose his footing. Philips fired the shot at the open net but Guhle stood tall and made the save, clearing the puck to the corner.
But the Royals kept coming and Vladimir Bobylev tapped in a rebound to open the scoring on the same power play, with Cats defenceman Josh Anderson sprawled across the crease trying in vain to cover up. It was the second goal in eight games for Bobylev, who started the season in his native Russia playing in the KHL.
The Cougars offered very little in the way of pressure in the offensive end in the opening frame. They fumbled the puck on a power play near the end of the period and Edmonds was forced to bail them out with a diving save to deny a breakaway chance for Kaid Oliver.
The Cougars' new big man on campus, six-foot-five, 202-pound winger Nikita Popugaev arrived in Prince George at 1 a.m. Friday morning, hours after the Cougars announced they had acquired the 18-year-old Russian in a trade from the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Popugaev took part in the morning skate and started the game playing right wing on a line with Jared Bethune and Colby McAuley. The Cougars have high hopes Popugaev will spark the offence and pick up where he left off with the Warriors as their leading scorer, with 22 goals and 51 points in 40 games. On his opening shift he fed McAuley a crisp pass in scoring range but McAuley blasted the puck wide.
The Cougars were better at holding the puck in the offensive end in the second period. Popugaev came close to scoring, showing his strength with a low wrist shot that nearly eluded Outhouse.
Tate Olson cranked a slapshot square off the goalpost 90 seconds into the second period and McAuley just missed the net following up on the rebound from a sharp angle. But the one that counted came off the stick of Royals right winger Nagy. He was in an ideal position standing off the post to rap in the ricochet into an open net behind Edmonds after Jack Walker hammered a point shot off the end boards.
The Cougars finally broke through the Outhouse wall and Popugaev helped set it up, 58 seconds into the third period. He created some space with power move through the slot and got the puck over to McDonald, who spun and fired a low shot into the net from the face-off circle for ninth of the season.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars and Royals go at it again tonight (7 p.m.) at CN Centre. ... LW Bartek Bison watched from the pressbox Saturday as the only injured Cougar. The 18-year-old European import from Amsterdam has missed 11 games with a concussion since Royals defenceman Ryan Gagnon charged into him with an open-ice hit in a game Dec. 3 at CN Centre. Gagnon, the Royals' 20-year-old captain and a native of Quesnel, was handed a major penalty and game misconduct and served a four game suspension, all as a result of the hit... One lucky fan who attends tonight's game will win a 2016 Nissan Versa in a giveaway sponsored by Northland Nissan... Forwards Yan Khomenko and Justin Almeida, the principles sent to Moose Jaw in the Popugaev deal, will return to Prince George to play for the Warriors on Jan. 20.
Friday's WHL summary
Royals 2 at Cougars1
First Period
1. Victoria, Bobylev 2 (Jarratt, Nagy) 7:32 (pp)
Penalties - Gabrielle PG (slashing) 6:18, Price Vic (goaltender interference) 7:59, Price Vic (fighting), Anderson PG (holding, fighting) 14:28, Prowse Vic (interference) 15:49.
Second Period
2. Victoria, Nagy 12 (Walker, Ibragimov) 12:48
Penalties - Collins PG (delay of game) 18:28.
Third Period
3. Prince George, McDonald 9 (Popugaev, Curtis) 0:58
Penalties - None.
Shots on goal by
Victoria 19 11 8 -38
Prince George 8 5 13 -26
Goal - Victoria, Outhouse (W,12-3-0); Prince George, Edmonds (L,21-7-1-0).
Power plays - Vic: 1-3; PG: 0-2.
Referees - Clayton Hall, Brett Iverson; Linesmen: Ron Dietterle, Alex Teichroeb.
Attendance - 3,319
Scratches - Victoria: D Chaz Reddekopp (serving first game of two-game suspension as a result of a hit Dec. 31 in Kamloops), RW Jared Dmitriw (upper-body injury), D Jeremy Masella (healthy), C Eric Florchuk(healthy)); Prince George: D Jonas Harkins (healthy), LW Josh Maser (healthy), LW Bartek Bison (concussion, day-to-day).
