Matthew Phillips put his team on his shoulders in the first period on Thursday night, scoring a pair of goals to pace the Victoria Royals to a 7-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The much needed victory snapped a four-game losing streak and evens the season series with the northern provincial rivals at two wins apiece. One of those Cougars losses was in overtime.
Royals newcomers Jeff de Wit and Braydon Buziak, acquired Wednesday in two trades, were inserted into the lineup and made their presence felt. Both recorded assists early on and de Wit added a third-period goal off a scramble. Buziak was a buzz-saw, getting his nose dirty, which pleased the 5,936 fans in the stands.
Victoria鈥檚 power play was over-powering on this evening, finishing 3-for-6.
鈥淚 thought it was a very good response by the team. To play fast early, play physical early and to get on the board early to get a lead,鈥� said Royals head coach Dan Price. 鈥淭hat was very important and it was a great response after a frustrating result [Wednesday] night, so I鈥檓 definitely proud of that effort.鈥�
Dino Kambeitz got the Royals started with a deflection of Chaz Reddekopp鈥檚 point shot on a man advantage just 5:28 into the game, but Josh Maser evened it for the Cougars just 29 seconds later.
That鈥檚 when the Royals鈥� captain went to work bagging a pair of goals almost 10 minutes apart, the second on a power play at 16:19 of the opening frame.
Phillips had quietly set a Victoria mark for most career power-play goals at 39 in Wednesday鈥檚 5-3 loss. The previous record was held by Brandon McGee who scored 38 in 318 games. The all-time franchise mark 鈥� which includes both Victoria and Chilliwack 鈥� is held by Ryan Howse who recorded 47 in 262 games with Chilliwack.
Spencer Gerth, Tyler Soy (power-play slapper) and Jeremy Masella also scored for the home side. Reddekopp (three assists) and Scott Walford (two helpers) were both much improved on this night and Dante Hannoun collected two assists for the second straight evening since returning from mononucleosis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to get the win. The guys made it super easy to come out here and play and I鈥檓 excited to be here,鈥� said de Wit.
Taylor Gauthier struggled in the P.G. net, allowing seven goals on 24 shots, replaced by Isaiah DiLaura at 6:18 of the third. Griffen Outhouse stopped 23 for the win with Dean McNabb playing the last 7:33.
With the victory 鈥� their first since the 5-4 overtime win in P.G. on Dec. 10 鈥� the Royals improve to 21-14-3-0 while the Cougars slip to 13-18-3-2. In the four previous losses Victoria was outscored 19-10.
The Royals travel to Kelowna on Saturday and move on to Kamloops on Monday.
ROYALS GEMS: The news wasn鈥檛 all good for Victoria as recently acquired Noah Gregor, who has shown flashes of brilliance, was a scratch with a slight break in his wrist that could sideline him for three to five weeks. Regan Nagy is out for another two weeks with his broken finger.
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