All the momentum coming into Friday night was with the Prince George Cougars.
But in keeping with the movie theme of the week, there was some sort of Force that was with the Victoria Royals, too.
His name is Griffen Outhouse.
The 17-year-old rookie goaltender from Williams Lake made a triumphant return to northern sa国际传媒 with a 39-save shutout as the Royals blanked the Cougars 2-0 in a Western Hockey League game before 2,691 fans at the CN Centre.
The Royals (21-11-2) were coming off two straight losses and an overall 1-3 record in their previous four-game set against the Western Conference last-place Vancouver Giants.
The surging Cougars (20-11-2), meanwhile, had lost in regulation time only once in their 12 previous games and had gained points in their previous 10 home games.
But that all came to crashing end Friday.
鈥淚t was a good bounce-back game,鈥� said Royals assistant coach Enio Sacilotto.
鈥淸Outhouse] closed the door tonight. He did an outstanding job in the crease.鈥�
The Royals are now 2-3 in the 13-game stretch they are playing without head coach Dave Lowry and defenceman Joe Hicketts, both away in Finland preparing to reprise those roles with sa国际传媒 at the 2016 world junior championship in Helsinki.
Victoria got just the start it needed Friday with first-period goals by veteran forwards Jack Walker and Logan Fisher while Outhouse, normally the back-up to veteran starter Coleman Vollrath, held steady.
鈥淲e weathered the storm early [Prince George outshot Victoria 9-1 to start the game]. Then getting the lead in the first period was huge,鈥� said Sacilotto.
鈥淲e greased it out after that.鈥�
Royals defenceman Chaz Reddekopp greatly aided Outhouse鈥檚 cause by clearing no less than three pucks off the goal line.
鈥淲e got a lot of great play defensively,鈥� said Sacilotto.
He signaled out Reddekopp and Ryan Gagnon in particular among his blueline corps.
Although the story was Outhouse, who recorded his second shutout in going to 5-1-1 on the season, veteran Ty Edmonds was also solid in making 31 saves for Prince George.
Both teams鈥� penalty-kill units were on form, particularly Victoria鈥檚, which held the Cougars 0-3. The Royals鈥� power play went 0-1.
The teams meet again tonight in Prince George, before concluding their four-consecutive game set Dec. 27-28 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The result moved Victoria past Prince George into second place in the sa国际传媒 Division behind the Kelowna Rockets.
