As tough as this season has been for the Prince George Cougars, they always seem to play tough against the Victoria Royals.
Friday night in Victoria was no exception.
They overcame a two-goal deficit and took the Royals to overtime before losing 4-3 in front of a crowd of 6,629.
Tanner Kaspick ended it 2:39 into OT with his second goal of the game. He took the puck in the Cougars' end and got behind enemy lines with a move into the slot, scoring through the legs of Tavin Grant.
Dante Hannoun and Tyler Soy were the other Royals' marksmen. Reid Perepeluk, Rhett Rhinehart and Josh Maser replied for Prince George.
The Cougars scored three unanswered goals to overcome a 2-0 deficit and were clinging to a one-goal lead when the Royals found a way to tie it with 2:57 left, three seconds after a penalty to O'Brien had expired. Soy parked himself just off the post and deflected a shot-pass through the crease from Matthew Phillips.
Griffen Outhouse picked up the win in a relief effort, stopping all five shots he faced in 15 minutes of game time. Grant, the game's second star, made 39 saves in goal for the Cougars, who were outshot 43-38.
The Cougars gave up the first two goals, first to Hannoun, in the first period, then to Kaspick, 4:55 into the second. But the Cats cut the lead in half when the rookie Perepeluk scored his first WHL goal 29 seconds before the break. Perepeluk, who had eight goals and 26 points in 24 junior B games this season in the KIJHL for the Kamloops Storm, knocked Victoria defenceman Chaz Reddekopp to the ice behind the Royals net and fired the puck while standing behind the goal line and the shot deflected in off the leg of goalie Dean McNabb. It was the second point in two games for Perepeluk, 17, who drew an assist in the Cougars' 7-1 loss to Portland on Wednesday which ended the Cougars' six-game homestand.
In the third period, the 16-year-old Rhinehart atoned for his mistake, scoring his second of the season. He took the puck from teammate Aaron Boyd, skated into middle ice in the Royals' zone and with a flick of the wrist beat McNabb to the blocker side. That came at 3:58 and it tied the game 2-2.
The Cougars gained the lead at 7:19 of the third, a Boyd feed from behind the net to Maser, who got down on one knee to blast the puck in from the slot for his team-leading 28th goal. Royals head coach Dan Price gave McNabb the hook at that point, replacing him with Outhouse after allowing three goals on 33 shots.
The Cougars and Royals meet again Sunday afternoon at 2 in Victoria. The Cougars will play Wednesday night in Kelowna and Friday in Kamloops before returning home for their season-ending game next Saturday at CN Centre against the Kamloops Blazers.
The Royals (38-25-4-2, second in the B.C. Division) moved five points ahead of the third-place Vancouver Giants in the WHL standings. The Cougars (23-37-4-4) remain fifth in the B.C. Division.
