It was a battle between naughty and nice Friday in Prince George.
The nice being the Prince George Cougars who are the least penalized team in the Western Hockey League this season with 301 minutes in 25 games. But it was the naughty Victoria Royals, leaders in trips to the sin bin with 521 minutes in 26 games, who earned the two points with a 2-0 win at CN Centre.
But it was the Cougars (9-13-1-3) who were penalized heavily, especially in the second period when Colin Jacobs was lost to the team after being handed a game misconduct and a five-minute major for fighting. The Cougars penalty killers did a good job keeping the Royals off balance for the first two and half minutes of the major. A cross checking penalty to Jake Mykitiuk gave the visitors a two-man advantage and they capitalized when Jamie Crooks beat Mac Engel one-on one from the bottom of the left circle to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.
The 1,771 fans in attendance let the referees know what they thought about their performance by showering them with boos. After Mykitiuk took an elbow to the face with no penalty call, the newest Cougar forward Ryan Hanes took matters into his own fists in a duel with Keegan Kanzig.
But the momentum the Cougars had was killed by the penalties and they were unable to beat Royals goalie Patrik Polivka (11-6-0-1) in the final period despite out shooting the Royals 12-5 in the third frame.
Prince George out shot Victoria 30-28 and outplayed them for most of the game but were unable to convert their opportunities into goals. The line of Jaobs, Daulton Siwak and Jari Erricson buzzed the net in the first period but couldn't score.
Engel made two big saves in the third period to keep the Cougars within striking distance but Polivka was unbeatable.
The Cougars controlled the majority of the play in the first period but trailed 1-0 after Austin Carroll, the Royals leader in penalty minutes with 62, notched his third goal of the season during a two on one in the second minute of action. Alex Gogolev picked up the assist to extend his point streak to 11 games.
Gogolev earned his second point of the night on Crooks power-play goal.
The Royals (14-12-0-1) lead the season series with the Cougars having won two games and lost once. The teams meet again tonight, 7 p.m. at CN Centre.
Notes: Scratched from the Cougars lineup were injured players Brock Hirsche (shoulder) and Troy Bourke (shoulder), while defenceman Michael Mylchreest was serving the second game of a two-game suspension. Chase Witala and Jordan Tkatch were healthy scratches. Former Royals goalie, and Prince George native, Jared Rathjen is playing with the Whitecourt Wolverines in the AJHL. In five games with the Alberta club, Rathjen has a 3-2 record and an .898 save percentage.
