The Prince George Cougars gave another highly-touted B.C. Division rival a rough ride. In Friday night Western Hockey League action at CN Centre, the Cats beat the Victoria Royals 2-1 in overtime.
The result follows a pair of Prince George wins against the division-leading Kelowna Rockets this past Tuesday and Wednesday - 4-1 and 7-6 respectively - at the same rink.
The Royals came into Friday's game as the second-place team in the B.C. Division and are trying to round their game into shape for playoffs. The Cougars, meanwhile, are at the bottom of the division and won't be considering playoffs until next season.
In Friday's overtime session, defenceman Ryan Schoettler scored the winning goal at the 4:04 mark. Assists on the play went to Josh Curtis and Aaron Boyd.
In regulation time, there was no scoring in the first two periods. At the four-minute mark of the third, the Cougars got on the board with a power-play goal by Joel Lakusta. A little more than four minutes later, Noah Gregor of the Royals got the equalizer, also on a power play.
Tyalor Gauthier was the winning goaltender and Griffen Outhouse took the loss. The Cats outshot the Royals 38-33. Each team had the one power-play goal, the Cougars on nine chances and the Royals on four.
The Cougars bumped their record to 23-33-4-4. The Royals now sit at 35-24-4-2.
The teams meet again tonight (7 p.m.) at CN Centre.
