With Kamloops, Kelowna, and Seattle all losing Friday night, there was an opportunity for the Prince George Cougars to pick up ground in the WHL Western Conference standings, however, the struggling Cats did not take advantage.
Instead, the Cougars suffered their fourth-straight loss overall and their sixth-straight on the road, falling 5-1 to the Victoria Royals before 3,904 fans in the provincial capital.
Prince George held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes on a Rhett Rhinehart goal, before the Royals poured it on by scoring twice in the second and three more in the third.
The Cougars have been outscored 43-17 in the second periods this season.
Brock Gould made 34 saves to pick up the win for the Royals, while Isaiah DiLaura stopped 29 of 34 shots.
The 11-18-1-2 Cougars are last in the BC Division, two points behind the (12-15-2-1) Kamloops Blazers, six back of (15-13-1) Victoria, and seven behind the (15-17-2) Kelowna Rockets.
Prince George and (11-15-3) Seattle are tied for last in the Western Conference, but the Thunderbirds have three games in hand.
The Blazers lost 5-3 in Cranbrook to the Kootenay Ice, the Rockets dropped a 5-1 decision to the Hitmen in Calgary and the Thunderbirds fell at home 5-3 to the Spokane Chiefs.
The Cougars, who have just one win in their last nine games, play their last game prior to the Christmas break Sunday afternoon at 4 in Langley against the first place (21-7-2) Vancouver Giants.
SCORING SUMMARY:
FIRST PERIOD
COUGARS [1-0] Rhett Rhinehart (3) from Ethan Browne and Josh Maser- 12:27
SECOND PERIOD
ROYALS [1-1] Dino Kambeitz (5)- 14:25
ROYALS [2-1] Tarun Fizer (8)- 15:39 [Power-Play]
THIRD PERIOD
ROYALS [3-1] Kaid Oliver (15) from Logan Doust and Dino Kambeitz- 1:18
ROYALS [4-1] Brandon Cutler [7] from Ty Yoder- 1:55
ROYALS [5-1] Phillip Schultz [6] from Dante Hannoun and Tarun Fizer- 8:23
SHOTS
COUGARS – 35
ROYALS – 34
POWER PLAYS
COUGARS – 0/4
ROYALS – 1/4