Cougars - Royals Preview.

The Prince George Cougars and Victoria Royals will meet twice this weekend and for both teams, the stakes couldn’t be higher. A win for the Cougars puts them into eighth place in the West. A win for Victoria and the Royals create some separation. Buckle up. It’s going to be a fun weekend.

VICTORIA ROYALS


Overview:

The Victoria Royals are coming into the weekend having lost five consecutive games. They are 2-7-0-1 in their last 10 and they hold a two-point edge on the Cougars for eighth place in the Western Conference. The Victoria Royals record currently sits at 17-34-2-4.



Who’s Up Front:

Jamie Crooks leads the Victoria Royals with 30 goals and 59 points through 57 games this season. Crooks has scored nine goals on the power play and has continued to provide the Royals with steady offense all season long.



Who’s on D:

Defensively the Cougars will need to be mindful of 20-year-old Hayden Rintoul. The Royals captain has 42 points this season and leads all Royals with 11 power play goals.



Who’s in Goal:

The Royals are led by goaltender Keith Hamilton, who holds a record of 16-29-1-4 this season. His save percentage is .876 and he has goals against average of 4.29 this season. His backup is Prince George product Jared Rathjen.



X-Factor:

When these teams met at the end of January and into early February one of the noticeable players for Victoria was Ben Walker. The Minnesota product has 25 points in 31 games since joining Victoria and had four points against the Cougars in two games played.


PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS


Overview:

Dean Clark’s team is heading into this weekend having won two of their last three games. They are 3-7-0-0 in their last 10, and more importantly are just two points back of eighth place in the Western Conference standings.



Who’s Up Front:

Given the absence of Alex Forsberg, Spencer Asuchak stepped in and joined Troy Bourke and Daulton Siwak on the Cougars top line on Wednesday, and the 20-year-old did not disappoint. Asuchak opened the scoring on the power play against Red Deer and now has 15 goals this season.



Who’s on D:

Cody Carlson recorded his eighth goal of the season on Wednesday, which proved to be the game winner. Carlson will no doubt be ready to go this weekend as the 20-year-old will have loads of family and friends on hand to watch him play in Victoria.



Who’s in Goal:

Drew Owsley was marvelous in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Red Deer making 38 saves on 39 shots faced. Owsley was acquired for weekends like this one, and you know that he’ll continue to give the Cougars every opportunity to win games.



X-Factor:

The Prince George Cougars were one-for-two on the power play on Wednesday and will hope to build off of that success this weekend. When the Cougars score on the power play they tend to find success, and scoring the first goal of games also seems to help. The Cougars are 15-7-0-1 when they score first.