Kody McDonald snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in what was likely his final junior hockey game in Prince George.
The 20-year-old from Lethbridge put on a memorable performance against his old team, tallying two goals and the shootout winner for the Victoria Royals in a thrilling 5-4 victory on Saturday over the Cougars before 2,559 fans at CN Centre.
After serving a ten-minute misconduct, McDonald went five hole early in the third period on Prince George netminder Taylor Gauthier before blasting a vicious one-timer late in the third to even up the score at 4-4.
McDonald was acquired by Victoria at the WHL trade deadline from the Prince Albert Raiders along with fellow teammate Carson Miller, who also potted a pair in the Royals victory over the Cats, and a 3rd round pick in 2020 in exchange for Dante Hannoun along with fourth and eighth round draft choices this year.
So far, he has recorded 16 points in 21 games since the move.
In an interview with My PG Now, McDonald admitted he was disappointed to be leaving what is arguably the best team in the WHL to a team lower in the standings.
“It’s never what you want to hear (getting traded) but it is a business though, they thought the move would benefit both teams, Victoria has been great to me so far, the city itself and the guys in the room, the coaching staff and the organization in general has been great so we’re just building up here for a playoff push.”
Former @PGCougars Kody McDonald comes back to bite old team scoring twice plus the shootout winner in 5-4 @victoriaroyals victory on Saturday from @CNCentre @TheWHL #CityofPG #sports #MYWHL pic.twitter.com/mhX4IFTxdO
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 17, 2019
This was a special weekend of sorts for McDonald who was lucky enough to rub shoulders with some ex-teammates during Alumni Night on Friday.
“Coming back here to the last two I’ll ever play here and seeing that banner up there, seeing the alumni is pretty cool. I spoke with the Hirschie family last night (Friday) making it a pretty memorable weekend and to top it all off with a good offensive third period was good.”
The weekend was also productive for former Cariboo Cougars and Likely, B.C. product Griffen Outhouse, who like McDonald was also playing his last pair of games at CN Centre.
“I was here for a year before with the Cariboo Cougars and played a lot of tournaments at the Kin arenas next door, I guess I am familiar and it’s exciting to have my friends and family here so close to home and is as close to a home barn on the road as I’m going to get.”
.@victoriaroyals goalie and former @cariboocougars Griffin Outhouse speaks post game with @mypgnow after 5-4 SO win on Saturday over @PGCougars @TheWHL #CityofPG #sports #MyWHL pic.twitter.com/dKmeX2wUFs
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 17, 2019
While the win was gratifying for the Royals, it was equally as frustrating for the Cougars who are now winless in their last fifteen games (0-11-3-1), blowing two leads in the process.
Josh Maser scored two of the Cougar goals in defeat and is of the opinion the team left it all out on the ice despite coming up short.
“Tonight we were finishing on our chances and I think that was the main difference. The last four games I think we have played solid in all of them it’s just we’re struggling to get offense going and we finally managed to get a few in the net. We’re getting better.”
The Cougars still have yet to win a game since General Manager Mark Lamb (0-3-0-1) took over behind the bench on an interim basis after relieving Richard Matvichuk of his duties on February 7th.
However, Cougars forward Jackson Leppard thinks the coaching move has been a positive so far even though the team doesn’t have much to show for it.
“We’re getting more feedback behind the bench and Mark is getting the players engaged a lot more and I think he is pretty demanding but the players respect him a lot, we all go to play for him and each other and he brings us together pretty well.”
Vladislav Mikhalchuk and Tyson Upper also lit the lamp for Prince George who went 1-for-6 on the power-play.
The Cougars drop to 16-33-4-3 on the season and are 13 points back of the Seattle Thunderbirds for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Prince George is also 12 points behind the (23-28-4-1) Kelowna Rockets.
The Rockets are currently in a playoff spot by sitting 3rd in the B.C. Division.
Victoria improved to 29-23-1-2, ten up on Kelowna.
Snapping the winless skid won’t get any easier for the Cougars as they entertain the top-ranked team in the U.S. Division, the Everett Silvertips Monday afternoon at 2:00 and Tuesday night at 7:00.
.@PGCougars forward Jackson Leppard speaks post game with @mypgnow following 5-4 shootout loss to @victoriaroyals on Saturday #CityofPG #sports #MYWHL pic.twitter.com/7FtFTkwgWP
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 17, 2019
PA 3 BDN 6
REG 3 MJ 6
SAS 5 LET 2
CGY 5 MH 3
VIC 5 PG 4 (SO)
VAN 2 KEL 0
RD 0 POR 2
EVT 1 SEA 4
SPO 5 TC 7— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 17, 2019
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