Recap | Mar. 16 | Cougars (10) @ Royals (4)
Victoria, BC – It was a Saturday night special at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre as the Victoria Royals (28-29-5-4) played host to the Prince George Cougars (46-15-1-3) for the second consecutive evening. It was the eighth and final meeting of the regular season between the two B.C. Division foes, and with playoff positioning still in the air, it may have been a potential round one preview. While this evening’s game had much at stake, it was also a night for the franchise to honor their three 20-year-olds: Tyson Laventure, Dawson Pasternak, and Braden Holt. A special pre-game ceremony set the stage for the Saturday affair.
Between the pipes, it was Jayden Kraus (8-12-0-1, 4.05 GAA, .867 save percentage) earning the start for Victoria, while the Cougars countered with Ty Young (21-11-1-0, 2.77 GAA, .904 save percentage) for the second consecutive night.
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Alex Edwards returned to the lineup for the Royals as they continued to regain players. This was the first game in which they were able to field a full 20-man roster since March 5th against the Spokane Chiefs.
The home side capitalized on the momentum from the pre-game ceremonies, with WHL veteran Tyson Laventure (29) notching the first goal of the contest. It marked the second consecutive outing in which Laventure scored, extending his team-leading tally to a five-goal gap over Dawson Pasternak. The goal came from a drawn face-off to the right of Ty Young in which Cole Reschny poked the puck free. Laventure stormed towards the blue crease, grabbed the loose puck, and fired it past Young to give the Royals a one-goal lead.
Prince George wasted no time in their comeback efforts, tying the game under a minute later as WHL Rookie of the Year candidate Terik Parascak (40) continued his impressive season. Riley Heidt and Hudson Thornton grabbed the assists on the play as the three Cougars standouts linked up for their first of the game. Moments later, Carlin Dezainde (23) put Prince George in front with a powerplay marker as the game passed the midway mark of the opening twenty.
Late in the period, the Royals went on the power play for the first time in the contest as Onrej Becher sat for a two-minute slashing penalty. In the ensuing sequence, the Cougars struck shorthanded. Once again, it was Terik Parascak (41) finding the net as he buried his fourth goal of the weekend series, opening up a two-goal advantage for the Cougars. That concluded the scoring in the first period as Prince George carried a 3-1 lead into the second. Shots in the opening period favored the Cougars, 12-2.
The visiting team surged with a furious pace to start the middle frame, scoring three goals within the opening three minutes. First, Zac Funk (65) scored 54 seconds in, widening the gap in the WHL Scoring race. His tally also marked his 113th point on the season, breaking the all-time record in the Cougars franchise history. Moments later, Borya Valis (23) found the back of the net with assistance from Onrej Becher and Chase Pauls. The impressive run from Prince George concluded with Onrej Becher (25) beating Kraus with a powerplay marker to make it 6-1 in their favour.
Victoria responded moments after the Prince George flurry came to an end. Dawson Pasternak (25) collected the tally as he closed in on the 70-point plateau with his 69th of the campaign. The 20-year-old forward received a cross-ice pass from Cole Reschny before taking the puck over the blue line and doing the rest. He used Tyson Laventure as a decoy on a two-on-one rush to his advantage, firing the puck over the shoulder of Young.
Prince George would restore their five-goal lead two minutes later as Aiden Foster (2) utilized Jett Lajoie and Hudson Thornton to make it 7-2 for the visiting team.
Just as the game passed the midway mark, it was a milestone moment for a Royals’ defenseman. Matthew Keller (1) entered his name onto the scoresheet to record his very first WHL goal. The product of Calgary, Alberta, earned the milestone with family in attendance as he wired a wrist shot from the blue line that navigated through a maze of bodies before fluttering past Young and into the back of the Cougars’ net.
The Royals used Keller’s first goal in the Western League as a momentum booster, making it a three-goal contest two minutes later. This time, Escalus Burlock (8) scored for the Royals, using his big frame in front of the Cougars’ crease as a screen on an Austin Zemlak shot. Burlock managed to get his stick on the puck on its way towards the net, and the puck trickled past Young and into the net, making it 7-4 in favour of the Cougars.
Victoria and Prince George erupted for seven goals in the middle frame, with the Cougars earning a slight 4-3 advantage. They took a 7-4 lead into the third period, outshooting the Royals 32-12 through forty minutes.
Just ad they did in the second, Prince George kicked off the period with a quick tally. Onrej Becher (26) tallied his second of the evening as he showcased his nose for the net as he drove towards the blue paint and deflected a Borya Valis pass by Kraus to make it 8-4. Moments later, Becher (27) completed the hat-trick, and he wasn’t done there, notching his fourth of the game just past the five mark as he put Prince George in double-digits.
That was enough for Prince George as they took down Victoria 10-4.
