Preview: Prince George at Victoria

The Victoria Royals (12-11, 24pts) entertain the Prince George Cougars (8-11-1-3, 20pts) for the first time this season, with a pair of back to back games Friday and Saturday.

Jamie Crooks fires a shot against the Cougars last season.  Photo: Marlon Martens

Last year the Royals took 6 of 8 encouters against their BC Division rivals, winning all 4 on the road while splitting the double headers at home.  They have 4 point lead on the Cougars, and will play them 4 times over their next 5 contests.

Victoria is 6th in the West and coming off a 5-2 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades on Tuesday.  Jamie Crooks scored twice against his former club, and now has 8 goals in his last 10 games.  Alex Gogolev had a goal and assist to extend his point streak to 7 games (3g, 5a) 8pts.

The Royals are in the middle of a 6 game homestand with a 2-1 record.  They started with a 5-0 win over Everett, fell 3-2 to Regina before beating Saskatoon. 

The 8th place Cougars snapped a 7 game winless streak with a 4-3 shootout victory Tuesday against the Pats.   Prince George came back from a 3-1 deficit while outshooting Regina 40-16, to win their 8th of the season.  3 of their last 4 outings have gone to a shoot out, winning only one.

Prince George has won 3 of 11 on the road this season, Victoria has won 8 of 11 at home.

After Friday night, the Royals will be a third of the way through the season.

After the Cougars this weekend, the Royals wrap up their 6 game homestand against the Warriors on Tuesday before heading to Prince George.

How the 2 teams match up

	Prince George	Victoria
Team Record	8-11-1-3 -- 20 points	12-11-0-0 -- 24 points
Division Ranking	4th B.C.	3rd B.C.
Conference Ranking	8th Western	6th Western
League Ranking	19th	12th
Past 10 Games	3-4-0-3	3-7-0-0
Streak	1-0-0-1	1-0-0-0
Last Game	4-3 W vs Regina (Nov 20 2012) Final SO	5-2 W vs Saskatoon (Nov 20 2012) Final
Home Record	5-6-1-0	8-3-0-0
Away Record	3-5-0-3	4-8-0-0
GF	64	67
GA	87	77
PP (Overall)	(15/108) 13.9	(22/113) 19.5
PP (Home)	(6/43) 14.0	(10/55) 18.2
PP (Away)	(9/65) 13.8	(12/58) 20.7
PK (Overall)	(22/77) 71.4	(21/103) 79.6
PK (Home)	(8/26) 69.2	(6/41) 85.4
PK (Away)	(14/51) 72.5	(15/62) 75.8
Leading Rookie	Pochiro (3-6-9)	Hicketts (1-6-7)
Most PIM	Erricson - 30	Carroll - 58
Team PIM/GM	12.0/Game	20.1/Game
Leading Scorers	Jacobs (9-13-22)	Gogolev (10-17-27)
	Erricson (6-7-13)	Nelson (6-16-22)
	Bourke (3-9-12)	Magee (10-7-17)
	Forsberg (5-6-11)	Walker (7-10-17)
	Siwak (5-5-10)	Crooks (11-5-16)
Last 5 Games	4-3 W vs Regina (Nov 20 2012) Final SO	5-2 W vs Saskatoon (Nov 20 2012) Final
	5-4 L @ Kamloops (Nov 17 2012) Final SO	3-2 L vs Regina (Nov 17 2012) Final
	4-0 L vs Saskatoon (Nov 16 2012) Final	5-0 W vs Everett (Nov 16 2012) Final
	4-3 L @ Vancouver (Nov 11 2012) Final SO	5-3 W @ Medicine Hat (Nov 10 2012) Final
	4-2 L vs Edmonton (Nov 10 2012) Final	5-2 L @ Calgary (Nov 9 2012) Final
Leading After 1st	3-2-0-0	6-2-0-0
Leading After 2nd	6-0-1-1	7-0-0-0
Tied After 1st	2-0-1-2	3-3-0-0
Tied After 2nd	1-2-0-1	0-1-0-0
Trailing After 1st	3-9-0-1	3-6-0-0
Trailing After 2nd	1-9-0-1	5-10-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents	4-4-0-2	5-2-0-0
Out Shot by Opponents	2-7-1-1	5-9-0-0
1-Goal Games	5-2-1-3	7-1-0-0
2-Goal Games	1-3-0-0	3-2-0-0
3-Goal Games	1-1-0-0	1-6-0-0