The winless Victoria Royals blew a 2-0 lead Saturday night in a 5-3 loss to Prince George as the Cougars went 2-for-4 on the power play after going 4-for-9 on Friday night in an 11-2 victory.
The contest, played before 3,325 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, turned in the second period on a glaringly needless late hit by Victoria well after the whistle. The swift and talented Riley Heidt cut the Royals lead to 2-1 at 10:27 of the second period on the Cougars power play as Victoria defenceman Kalem Parker sat in the box. The two are Minnesota draft picks and had skated together in the NHL training camp of the Wild last week.
Heidt connected again on the power play to tie the game at 17:53 of the second. Terik Parascak, with his fifth goal of the weekend and eighth of the season, gave Prince George the lead at 1:02 of the third period after a Royals penalty had just ended.
The Cougars then stuck the dagger with their third short-handed goal in two games as Carlin Dezainde scored at 9:31. The Victoria power play has now allowed three more goals (four) than it has scored on the season (one).
Scott and defenceman Austin Zemlak had given Victoria the 2-0 lead. Rookie Cole Reschny pulled the Royals to within 4-3 in the third period before Dezainde scored into an empty net for the Cougars. The best of the Royals was goaltender Braden Holt, who turned in a solid performance in facing 31 shots.
Victoria got 28 shots on Prince George goaltender Ty Young, who returned to the Memorial Centre after skating on Blanshard in the training camp of the Vancouver Canucks last weekend, where we was signed to an NHL entry-level contract.
The Cougars kick off a five-game homestand Tuesday and Wednesday against the Kelowna Rockets, followed by a two-game set Friday and Saturday over the Thanksgiving long weekend against the Wenatchee Wild before the Swift Current Broncos come to Prince George on Oct. 11.
