Sunday 13 March 2016

Recap: PG 3 - VIC 4 (Sunday, March 13th, 2016)





Vladimir Bobylev scored a goal and added two assists, to help the Victoria Royals (47-16-3-3, 100pts) get past the visiting Prince George Cougars 4-3 Sunday afternoon.

The Royals had built up a 4-0 second period lead before the Cougars (36-29-3-2, 77pts) scored the next three.
“I thought we skated and created all kinds of opportunities in the first period, but got away from it in the second and third.”  Said Head Coach Dave Lowry.

It was a scoreless final frame, and Victoria went on to win their 10th in a row, and hit 100 points to tie the franchise record set 2 seasons ago.  The Royals remain first in the WHL standings.

“We got off to really good start,” said Lowry on hitting the century mark,

“You put trust and belief in your room, and it goes a long way.  We’ve had different guys step up at critical times, every night it seems to be somebody else.”

Victoria wins the season series with a record of 5-2-0-1, against Prince George who occupy the 1st Wild Card spot, 7th in the West.

Bobylev was the first star, scored his 26th of the year
The Royals swept the two game home set after a 6-2 win Friday night.

Victoria out shot the Prince George 31-18, and twice held the Cougars to just 2 shots in a frame, the first and third period.

Coleman Vollrath earned his 31st victory in back to back starts, while Nick McBride was relieved after allowing 3 goals on 9 Royals shots.  Ty Emdonds finished the game stopping 21 of 22.

Vollrath stopped a pair of Prince George breakaways, Jansen Harkins short handed and Brad Morrison to keep the game 4-2.  He later denied Morrison the hat trick and equalizer in the third with a great shoulder stop.

Victoria went 1 for 3 on the power play, now scoring with the man advantage in 8 straight games.  Prince George did not earn a single power play.

“That’s something we’ve stressed for a while now,” said Jack Walker who scored his 33rd,

“We have to play a disciplined game.  Obviously we’re not the biggest team in the league so how we’re going to win the physical game is through special teams.”

The Royals got first period goals from Alex Forsberg, Bobylev, and Walker who also added an assist and extended his point streak to 9 games and 19 points (9g 10a).

Forsberg pushed his streak to 10 games and 15 points (5g 10a).  Tyler Soy saw his 9 game streak with 19 points snapped.

Rookie defenseman Scott Walford scored his 1st WHL goal with the man adavantage with a point shot to put the club up 4-0.

“It was definitely a dream come true,” said the Coquitlam native, and first round bantam pick of the Royals,

“Watching the WHL growing up and finally getting my first – it was definitely a dream come true.”

The Cougars got a pair from Brad Morrison, while Luke Harrison banged home his 10th of the year.

Victoria has won 12 straight at home, all part of a franchise best 25 victories at home this season.

The Royals have outshot the opposition in 16 straight with a record of 14-1-1-0 in that span.

Just 3 games remain in the regular season for Victoria, in Kelowna Wednesday, at Everett Friday, and wrap up at home against the Silvertips Saturday.

- Marlon Martens

Prince George Cougars 3 at Victoria Royals 4 - Status: Final
Sunday, March 13, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Prince George 0 3 0 - 3
Victoria 3 1 0 - 4

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Forsberg 28 (Jarratt, Hannoun), 4:41.
2, Victoria, Bobylev 26 (Walker, Hicketts), 5:55.
3, Victoria, Walker 33 (Bobylev, Gagnon), 7:49.

Penalties-Dosanjh Pg (roughing), 11:52.

2nd Period-
4, Victoria, Walford 1 (Bobylev, Price), 8:18 (PP).
5, Prince George, Morrison 27 (Lakusta, O'Brien), 8:34.
6, Prince George, Harrison 10 (Almeida, Bethune), 10:06.
7, Prince George, Morrison 28 (O'Brien, Olson), 16:11.

Penalties-McAuley Pg (roughing), 0:59; Kadlec Pg (checking to the head), 6:44; McAuley Pg (roughing), 6:44; Hannoun Vic (slashing), 6:44.

3rd Period-
No Scoring.

Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-
Prince George 2-14-2-18.
Victoria 12-12-7-31.

Power Play Opportunities-
Prince George 0 / 0;
Victoria 1 / 3.

Goalies-
Prince George,
McBride 12-10-1-1 (9 shots-6 saves); Edmonds 21-16-2-1 (22 shots-21 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 31-13-0-2 (18 shots-15 saves).

A-6,769
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Chris Crich (20).
Linesmen-Michael McGowan (41), Bevan Mills (98).