Griffen Outhouse's return to his midget hockey roots in Prince George was just about everything we've come to expect from the kid from Williams Lake.
Just about.
Nobody in the building expected him to put a donut, but that's exactly what the 17-year-old rookie goalie did to the Prince George Cougars.
Outhouse made 39 saves for his first Western Hockey League shutout - a 2-0 win over the Cougars.
"It's great to be here, lots of friends and family watching, and it's fun to get the win," said Outhouse. "I had a few shots at the start and that was good to get me in the game and then I just had to try to stay focused from there on out. I've got a really great D in front of me and that's a big part of my numbers.
"I just have to have positive thoughts before every game and think that I'm going to do well."
Last season, Outhouse was one of the stars on a stacked Cariboo Cougars team and he led the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League with a 2.04 goals-against average, compiling a 15-5-2 record. He helped them win the prestigious Mac's major midget tournament in Calgary.
This season, his numbers in the WHL are mind-boggling. He now has a 5-1-1 record, 1.46 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage playing for the Royals.
The Cougars had all the shots in the early going Friday but couldn't get anything behind Outhouse. With the game still scoreless he got his leg down on the ice to rob Kody McDonald. At that point the shots were 9-1.
At the opposite end of the ice in the Cougars' crease, Ty Edmonds was chilling comfortably until Jack Walker broke in on the left wing and picked the far corner low to open the scoring.
It was only Victoria's second shot of the game, 7:43 in.
Then at 16:43, Logan Fisher made it 2-0 when he was allowed to skate with the puck around the net and had enough time to wait for Edmonds to go down before he shot it in.
That was all the scoring the Royals (21-11-1-1) would need to jump two points ahead of the Cougars (20-11-1-1) into sole possession of second place in the WHL Western Conference standings.
In the second period, Outhouse looked sharp denying quality chances from Brad Morrison and Jared Bethune and he got his shoulder in the way to take away a labelled one-timer from Chase Witala, looking to add to his team-leading 20-goal total.
The Cougars had some extensive zone time in the Victoria end in the first half of the third period but for the most part the Royals had them well-covered and they were relentless with their backchecking, rarely allowing the Cougars to get to rebounds.
The Cats came close to scoring in the dying seconds with Edmonds on the bench but Outhouse was on top of his game right to the end. The shots ended up 39-33 for the Cougars.
LOOSE PUCKS: A near-capacity crowd of 5,900 is expected for the rematch tonight at CN Centre, the annual Teddy Bear Toss feature game. Fans are encouraged to bring stuffed toy donations to throw on the ice once the Cougars score their first goal.
Five of the Cougars' next nine games are against Victoria.
The Cougars put up a huge Get Well Dan Hamhuis banner in the concourse for fans to sign. The veteran Vancouver Canucks defenceman and Cougars part-owner suffered facial fractures when he got hit with the puck in a game last weekend.
The Royals were without three key personnel for Friday's game. Joe Hicketts, their top defenceman, and head coach Dave Lowry are with Canada's world junior team, as they were last year at this time. Lowry has moved up to head coach of Team Canada after filling a role as an assistant last time around for the 2015 tournament. Royals don't expect to have them back until Jan. 8, when they host the Cougars the first of a two-game series.
Royals left winger Alex Forsberg was back in the lineup Friday after serving a one-game suspension for instigating a fight late in a game last Sunday against Vancouver. Forsberg, picked by the Cougars first overall in the 2010 WHL bantam draft, played three full seasons for the Cats from 2011-14. He leads the Royals in points with 42 in 33 games.
