The Prince George Cougars ended their weekend in Victoria the way it began - one game below the .500 mark.
One day after the Cougars edged the Royals 4-3 in Victoria Saturday night, they couldn't find the back of the net in a 4-0 shutout loss in a matinee tilt Sunday afternoon.
The split means the Cougars remain in third place in the WHL's B.C. Division at 18-19 and 36 points, three points back of the second-place Royals who improve to 18-18-2-1.
The weekend was the first time both teams returned to the ice after the Christmas break.
Sunday the Cougars outshot the Royals 14-9 in the first period, but it was the Royals who got on the scoreboard in the second period, scoring all four of their goals on starting netminder Tavin Grant.
With Cougars centre Zach Pochiro in the penalty box serving a slashing minor, left-winger Austin Carroll started the goal rush for the Royals with low shot that got past Grant at the 1:36-minute mark of the second period.
Carroll, Victoria's leading scorer, beat Grant on the blocker side for his second goal three minutes later.
Brandon Fushimi and Dante Hannoun rounded out the scoring for the Royals in the middle frame.
Victoria netminder Coleman Vollrath earned his third shutout of the season, sweeping aside all 38 of the Cougars shots he faced. The Royals scored four times on 30 shots on Grant.
The Cougars went 0-5 on the power play, while the Royals were 1-7.
On Saturday, Pochiro netted a pair of goals, including the eventual winner at the 16:25-minute mark of the second period on the power play to lead Prince George to the 4-3 win.
After Pochiro scored in the first period, Haydn Hopkins and Aaron Boyd padded the Cougars lead with single tallies for a 3-0 lead in the second period.
Tyler Soy responded for Victoria four minutes later to narrow Prince George's lead to 3-1. The Cougars took a 4-1 lead into the third period and managed to hang on for the win despite Royals striking twice more on goals from Soy and Greg Chase.
The Cougars outshot the Royals 30-19 as Ty Edmonds earned his 16th win of the season.
The Cougars spent Sunday night in Victoria and are en route to Kelowna to take on the 29-5-3 WHL-leading Rockets tomorrow night.
Prince George's five-game road trip wraps up this weekend with stops in Vancouver on Friday and Kelowna on Saturday. They return home on Jan. 6 for a two-game series against the Tri-City Americans.
Loose pucks: Saturday was the first WHL game in Victoria for Hopkins, who grew up in the provincial capital...the Cougars reached 18 wins this season in 36 games. Last season, it took them 49 games to reach the 18-win mark.
