Cougars Win

Cougars snap 4-game losing skid with 4-1 win over Royals

Apr 26, 2021 | 9:19 PM

KAMLOOPS, BC – The Prince George Cougars (5-7-1-1) were looking to rediscover the win column Monday night, and it was mission accomplished against the Victoria Royals (1-12-1-0).

Riding a 4-game losing streak, the Cats snapped it with a 4-1 victory against the Royals. The season series now 3-1 in favour of the Cougars.

Rookie Kyren Gronick came away with a goal and an assist in the effort, continuing as the team’s top-scoring rookie, but also now sitting tied with Craig Armstrong and Jonny Hooker for the team lead in points (10). Both Armstrong and Hooker both scored points in the winning effort as well, Armstrong matching Gronick’s goal and assist; Hooker scoring a goal.

At the 5:51 mark of the opening period, Gronick netted his 5th of the season as he leads the Cats’ rookie bunch in scoring. Through 13 games, the Regina product had 8 points before Monday’s tilt against the Royals.

A holding call against Matthew Smith put the Cougars onto their first powerplay of the game and they found early success. Ethan Browne found the back of the net to tally his 4th goal of the season with the man advantage, giving the Cats some cushion early on.

Prince George entered the dressing room after the opening 20 with the 2-0 lead.

Come the 2nd period, Prince George flipped the script on the Royals when it came to the shots department. After a narrow 9-8 total in favour for the Royals after 20, the Cats tallied 13-7 in the 2nd.

Jonny Hooker found his 6th goal of the season to extend the Cats lead. The goal came at the 11:11 mark of the period as the Cougars led 3-0.

Into the second break, the Cougars remained in the lead. However, the Royals found the scoring touch in the first quarter of the third period. Trentyn Crane tallied his 2nd of the season at the 5:44 mark of the period.

Not even two minutes later, Craig Armstrong re-established the Cougars’ three-goal lead with a marker of his own. Much like Hooker, the goal went down as Armstrong’s 6th of the season. The pair are tied for the team lead.

Taylor Gauthier stopped 25 of the 26 shots faced by the Royals. Meanwhile, Alex Evanoff turned away 29 of the 33 shots he faced.

The Cougars will be back in action on Wednesday against the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre.