The Victoria Royals erased a 2-0 deficit with four unanswered goals in the second period to beat the Prince George Cougars 5-3 in the opener of their Western Conference quarter-final.
20-year-old Brandon Magee notched a hat trick in the middle frame and added an assist on an empty netter. Magee has 14 points in seven games against Prince George this season.
The Cougars got power play goals from Tate Olson, Chase Witala and Cody McDonald plus a pair of assists from Brad Morrison.
The two teams play again tonight (Saturday) in Victoria before the series shifts to CN Centre Wednesday and Thursday.
–In other WHL playoff action Friday: Kelowna skunked Tri-City 6-0, Everett dumped Spokane 5-1, Regina doubled Swift Current 4-2 and Kootenay upset Calgary 4-3 in the first games of their Conference quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Brandon whipped Edmonton 8-1 to tie that series 1-1.
–The BCHL three team double round robin semi-finals continued with Nanaimo crushing Chilliwack 7-3.
The standings have Penticton 1-0, Nanaimo 1-1 and Chilliwack 0-1. The top two teams advance to the best of seven Fred Page Cup final.
Photo: Courtesy of the Prince George Cougars