The Prince George Cougars playoff safari ended Saturday night in Victoria.
All it took was a sniper strike Saturday from the Victoria Royals' most deadly sharpshooter, Brandon Magee, whose overtime goal 1:42 into the extra session slammed the cage shut on the Cougars' season.
Magee took a pass from former Cougar Alex Forsberg and shot the puck in behind Cougars goalie Ty Edmonds to give the Royals a 5-4 win in Game 5 to clinch the best-of-seven WHL Western Conference quarterfinal series 4-1.
Greg Chase scored three goals and Brandon Fushimi also scored for the Royals,, who advanced to Round 2 of the playoffs against the Kelowna Rockets, starting Friday in Kelowna. Zach Pochiro, in his final Western Hockey League game, led the Cougars with three goals.
"I wish I could have been better this series but it was nice to have that breakout game and I'm glad we fought until the end," said Pochiro. "We didn't just give up and let those guys steamroll us. It's tough but I think this is a really good learning process for the younger guys.
"We easily could have won that game. I know it's devastating and I know the guys really wanted to bring it back to P.G. and make those guys come back, but what are you going to do?"
The Cougars tied it for the third time in the game with just 1:14 left on a power play when Jansen Harkins won an offensive-zone face-off and got the puck to Brad Morrison, who snapped it high into the Victoria net behind Coleman Voillrath. It was the second point of the game and team-high seventh of the series for Morrison, an 18-year-old draft-eligible forward. Morrison's goal came with Royals defenceman Travis Brown serving a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass.
"We played a helluva last game, we kept battling back and clawing our way back on to the scoreboard and it really showed the grittiness and determination of our team to try to bring it back to Prince George," said Cougars winger Jari Erricson.
"Victoria is a tough team with big bodies and our team never gave up through the series. Every game we were in the game and it could have gone either way. They just happened to capitalize on a few more chances than we did. I give props to our group though, it's a really relentless team we've got here with a lot of character and I think it really showed in the series. When we were down by two there wasn't any doubt in our minds that we'd be able to come back and make a came of it and win it. Unfortunately it came down to overtime when anything can happen and it didn't go our way."
Magee's winner after a face-off win overshadowed a terrific hat-trick performance from Pochiro, who played one of his best games in three seasons with the Cats, trying to send the series back to Prince George for Game 6 Monday. Pochiro 's third goal of the game, a hard shot off a fast entry into the Victoria zone, came with six minutes left in the third period.
But just 1:16 later, Chase took a drop pass from Jack Walker on a 3-on-2 chance and blasted the puck past Ty Edmonds to restore the Royals' lead, much to the delight of a pro-Royals crowd of 5,839. Chase, a 20-year-old Edmonton Oilers prospect, joined the Royals 15 games into the season in a trade from the Calgary Hitmen.
A bullet shot from Pochiro brought the Cougars to within a goal, down 3-2 late in the second period on another Cats' power play. Pochiro combined with Erricson to tie the game at goal apiece less than a minute after Chase had opened the scoring on a Royals' power play, nine minutes into the game.
"We played our asses off to battle back and we got into trouble in OT with a couple turnovers the first shift and then at the end of the day we were just a shot away," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "I thought we played well enough and hard enough and I think we deserved a little better. Victoria has older guys, they're a heavier team with lots of playoff experience, but I loved the way we played, I loved their push.
"The guys did a great job. I think this experience can't do anything but help us."
The Cougars outshot the Royals for the fourth time in the series, ending up with a 38-27 count on Saturday.
Magee, who scored six of the 18 goals the Royals collected in the series, finished with 23 goals and 53 points in 41 career games against the Cougars.
"Magee was definitely a thorn in our sides for this series and he just had a knack for the net," said Erricson. "Sometimes guys get hot in a series and the bounces just go their way and it seemed like every which way it was going for him this series."
