It took a shootout, but the Prince George Cougars beat the Victoria Royals on Monday night in Victoria.
Vladimir Bobylev put the Royals on the scoreboard eight-and-a-half minutes into the first period with an assist by Tyler Soy.
Almost exactly a period later, the Cats' Tate Olson tied the game on a powerplay. The Royals' Brayden Pachel was serving time in the sin bin for tripping when Olson made the score 1-1 with assists from Jansen Harkins and Chase Witala.
But it didn't take long for Alex Forsberg to put Victoria back in the lead – getting the puck past Cats' goalie Nick McBride while Witala was cooling his heels on a slashing penalty.
Soy and Jack Walker earned the assists on the goal.
Witala made up for the lost point by scoring shorthanded late in the second period with help from Olson.
Brogan O'Brien was serving time for slashing when Witala turned the tables on the Royals and scored during Victoria's man advantage.
A scoreless third period with few shots on net sent the teams into overtime.
In five minutes of three-on-three hockey, the Cougars weren't able to generate any shots on net, and McBride stopped the three shots he faced to force a shootout.
Jesse Gabrielle scored on the first shootout attempt for the Cats, matched by the Royals Walker who also scored.
On the fourth shot, Harkins found the net past Royals goalie Coleman Vollrath while Soy couldn't produce, resulting in a 3-2 win for the Cats.
Attendance at Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena in Victoria was 4,905.
The Cougars are in action again on Wednesday in Vancouver against the Giants. The game starts at 7 p.m.
