It's official, the Prince George Cougars will miss the Western Hockey League playoffs.
The Victoria Royals (23-41-3-4) eliminated the Cougars with a 4-3 win Wednesday over the Portland Winterhawks (48-18-3-1) to move into seventh place in the Western Conference with 53 points. The maximum points the Cougars can attain is 52.
The Everett Silvertips (21-39-2-8) hold down the eighth, and final, playoff spot after losing 4-2 to the Kelowna Rockets.
Steven Hodges scored the winning goal for the Royals with 6:46 left and Keith Hamilton kept the Winterhawks at bay with 32 saves. Despite finishing the game on the power play the Winterhawks were unable to put the puck past Hamilton and remain two points behind the Tri City Americans for first place in Western Conference. Both teams have two games remaining.
The Royals' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is four as the Seattle Thunderbirds (24-43-1-1) are still alive with three games left. Victoria wraps up their season Friday at home against the Winterhawks.
The Cougars (23-45-0-2) wrap up the season with a home-and-home series against the B.C. Division champion Kamloops Blazers, starting Friday in Kamloops with the second half of the doubleheader at CN Centre on Saturday at 7 p.m.
