The Victoria Royals scored five straight goals, in the final 40 minutes of play, to down the Prince George Cougars 5-1 on Saturday night at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
Scoring in Succession: In tonight’s game, Victoria forwards Sean Gulka and Logan Doust scored just 29 seconds apart in the second period. This set a new Royals’ season high for fastest goals for in succession.
Breaking the Trend: Tonight, was the first time in seven games this season that a contest between the Royals and the Cougars had been decided by more than two goals. Victoria holds a record of 6-1-0-0 versus Prince George this season.
Divisional Foes: The Royals played their second game of seven straight against teams from the BC Division. Amongst the five BC Division teams, Victoria has gained the most points from divisional games (22) and hold a record of 11-5-0-0. They are followed by Kamloops at 18 points (9-5-0-0), Kelowna with 16 points (7-9-1-1), Vancouver (7-5-1-0) and Prince George (6-11-0-3) are tied for fourth with 15 points.
Milestone Men: Royals’ forward Gary Haden and defenceman Jacob Herauf both played in their 200th career WHL regular season game tonight. Haden has collected 139 points (68g-71a) in 200 games split between Victoria, the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers. Meanwhile, Herauf who has also spent time with the Red Deer Rebels, has registered six goals and 41 assists over his career.
Gone Streaking: Royals’ forward Kaid Oliver tallied a pair of goals tonight to extend his point scoring streak to four games. Oliver has collected four goals and two assists in those four games.
Hitting the Road: Victoria will now head out on a six-game, 12-day BC Division road trip with stops in Kamloops, Vancouver and Kelowna. The Royals’ first game of the trip is on Monday, December 30th against the Kamloops Blazers. Puck drop is at 7:00 pm.
Back Home: The Royals will return to Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for a four-game homestand beginning on January 10th. Victoria will host the Portland Winterhawks on Friday, January 10th and Saturday, January 11th, followed by a pair of games vs. the Tri-City Americans on Tuesday, January 14th and Wednesday, January 15th. Puck drop for all four games is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Scoring:
Royals – Gary Haden 0g-3a, Kaid Oliver 2g-0a, Brandon Cutler 0g-2a, Sean Gulka 1g-0a, Logan Doust 1g-0a (Game Winner), Keanu Derungs 1g-0a, Nolan Bentham 0g-1a, Tarun Fizer 0g-1a, Carson Miller 0g-1a.
Prince George – Nikita Krivokrasov 1g-0a, Ilijah Colina 0g-1a, Vladislav Mikhalchuk 0g-1a.
Goaltending:
Royals – Brock Gould (W) – 60:00 mins, 24 saves on 25 shots.
Prince George – Taylor Gauthier (L) – 60:00 mins, 25 saves on 30 shots.
Powerplay:
Royals – 2/5=40.0%.
Prince George – 0/6=0.0%.
