Preview: Royals at Cougars (GM #30)
The Prince George Cougars look for their third win in a row when they host the Victoria Royals at the CN Centre, in their annual Teddy Bear Toss Game; face-off is slated for 2 PM.
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The Cougars are coming off back-t0-back wins over Vancouver and Kootenay, that coming on the heels of a five-game winless streak. Prince George beat the Giants 6-2 Saturday and edged the ICE 3-1 Tuesday. Coming into today’s tilt with the division-leading Royals, the Cougars are just two points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference occupied by the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Victoria ended a four-game winless run of their own on Friday and in convincing fashion, as they thumped the ICE 10-3 at Save on Foods Memorial Centre. It was their annual Teddy Bear Toss game, as Eric Florchuk triggered the cascade of bears five-minutes into the first period; second straight year Florchuk scored the Teddy Bear goal. It was a much needed win, as the Royals went winless on their four-game road trip through Saskatchewan and Alberta. They picked up a pair of overtime points and went 0-2-2-0 against Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Medicine Hate and Lethbridge.
The big story out of the Cougars’ camp is 16-year-old puck-stopper Taylor Gauthier. He’s posted back-to-back wins and has stopped 59 of the last 62 shots he’s faced. He’s quickly soared up the goalie rankings and now is eighth in goals-against average (2.82) and inside the top 20 in save percentage (.903). Gauthier is coming off a 40-save performance against the ICE on Tuesday, and with how things are going for him, one would assume he gets the call between the pipes this afternoon. No easy task for Gauthier, if he gets the call, as the Royals are the highest scoring team in the WHL, with 138 goals in 32 games; they’re tied with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Prince George will once again be without their top goal-scorer and point producer in Kody McDonald. He is serving his second game of a three-game suspension after his one-man fight against the Giants last Friday. McDonald will miss Tuesday’s rematch with the Royals, and is eligible to return to the line-up on Friday in Seattle. No doubt the Cougars will miss his production but they did an admirable job in filling the hole he left on Tuesday. Against a team like Victoria and against one of the best goalies in the WHL in Griffen Outhouse, the Cougars collectively will need to step up and find a way to produce with McDonald.
Today marks the first of eight games against the Royals, and starts a stretch of four games in three weeks between the two division rivals. They play again Tuesday at the CN Centre, then reconvene in Victoria for two games right after the Christmas break on December 27th & 28th. Last year, it was a season series that had drastic swings of momentum. Prince George won their first three meetings against the Royals but then dropped four-straight, before winning the finale in January. The Cougars were 2-2 at home against the Royals, splitting both doubleheaders in Prince George; the Cougars outscored the Royals 10-8 at home last season. Of those returning from last year, Jared Bethune had seven points, all assists, in eight games against Victoria. Kody McDonald had three goals and four points in eight. Matt Phillips, the Royals returning top scorer from last season, had a pair of goals and four points against the Cougars in six games.
