For a two-minute span in the final period Tuesday night, Prince George Cougars fans experienced deja vu as it appeared Victoria was going to pull out another comeback win.
The hockey gods however would favour the home team, allowing rookie forward Max Kryski to score his first career WHL goal for a 5-4 triumph over the Royals.
FINAL: @PGCougars hang in to beat B.C. Division-best @victoriaroyals 5-4 for their 12th win of the 2017-18 season; @tavin_grant makes 41 saves | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/VMqeaxTBxO
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 13, 2017
After learning a big lesson from Sunday afternoon’s loss in overtime to the BC Division’s top team, Cougars Head Coach Richard Matvichuk credits his team’s perseverance and positivity.
“It’s a character win tonight because we never quit. They played hard, they stuck with the Royals; the chatter on the bench wasn’t, ‘Oh no, we’re going to lose this one.’ It was all positive and we’re very lucky to have those impact players thinking that way in a tense situation.”
While on 94.3 the GOAT’s post-game show, he also compares Victoria to the Cougars’ 2016-17 roster.
“Did I think we were going to shut them out? No, it didn’t matter if we were down by so many goals, because that’s the kind of team we were. But again, our young group responded being on the back end. It was a matter of rolling out the third and fourth lines and they showed up to compete tonight.”
Similar to Sunday’s contest, Prince George scored two goals in the first period for a 2-0 lead, thanks to Belarus Junior National Vladislav Mikhalchuk and Defenceman Ryan Schoettler on the power-play.
Schoettler would later pot his second of the night from Jared Bethune and Aaron Boyd seven minutes into the second stanza, giving the Cats a 3-0 lead.
During the same frame, Cougars’ newly acquired forward Nic Holowko engaged in a fight with Victoria’s Jared Freadrich, which received an uproarious welcome to the northern capital from the 2,432 fans in attendance.
.@Holo380 welcomed by @PGCougars fans after fight with @victoriaroyals’ Jared Freadrich | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/kw478AKez3
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 13, 2017
The 20-year-old Burnaby product also assisted on Kryski’s game-winning goal, believing his 200-plus WHL game experience will come in handy for the rest of the year.
“It was nice to get the rush out there as fast as I could, and you know I’ll get some more practices in and eventually my legs will come back. This is my fourth team in the league, so this isn’t my first go-round, but I definitely had to go more on instinct tonight and it worked out in our team’s favour.”
Victoria cracked goaltender Tavin Grant’s shutout chance on their 33rd shot, but Defenceman Cole Moberg found the back of the net 19 seconds later on visiting netminder Dean McNabb to regain the three-goal advantage.
The Royals came charging back, scoring three goals within a span of 1:50, but Kryski’s game-winning point would follow later in the period, finding an open cage and hanging on until the final buzzer at the CN Centre for 2017.
.@PGCougars’ Max Kryski wrists from the middle to give Cats the 5-4 advantage on @victoriaroyals for his 1st career WHL goal | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/IvWAZYY8DU
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 13, 2017
Grant stopped 41 of 45 shots, while Victoria’s McNabb made 20 saves on 25 attempts.
The victory vaults the Cougars to a record of 12-14-3-2 and a tie for fourth in the BC Division with the Kamloops Blazers; five points back of the Vancouver Giants.
Coach Matvichuk says he’s confident his team can keep building on this momentum.
“Tomorrow is a clean slate. These guys know how important these next few games are going to be to close out the year. Our ultimate goal now is to get the next six points, and that’s what we want to do this weekend.”
Prince George concludes the calendar year with six road games, beginning on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Seattle, Everett, and Vancouver respectively.
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