Brock Gould won the battle of the crease understudies Friday night as the Victoria Royals defeated the Prince George Cougars 5-1 in Western Hockey League action at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Both teams went with their backup goalies. Getting a rest were veteran Griffen Outhouse of Victoria, who is one win from becoming only the 16th goaltender in WHL regular-season history to reach the career 100-victory plateau; and sa国际传媒 U-18 gold-medallist goaltender Taylor Gauthier of Prince George, projected for the second or third rounds of the 2019 NHL draft.
But neither team gave anything away in goal with 17-year-old rookie and Colorado-native Gould sharp in making 34 saves for Victoria (15-13-1). Sophomore Isaiah DiLaura was very good early for the reeling Cougars, who lost for the fourth consecutive time in falling to 11-18-3. Prince George led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by defenceman Rhett Rhinehart. But DiLaura, an 18-year-old from Lakeville, Minnesota, could only hold the fort for so long in a 29-save performance.
The Royals鈥� power play connected for the first time in six games when Tarun Fizer blasted home a Dante Hannoun rebound to give Victoria a 2-1 lead at 15:39 of the second period. The sophomore Fizer also had an assist to extend his points streak to four games.
The goal of the night was scored by Brandon Cutler, who went ice length in the third period. Also scoring was Phillip Schultz, who will represent Denmark in the 2019 world junior championship, Dino Kambeitz and Kaid Oliver with his 15th goal of the season.
