In the first of four consecutive meetings with the Victoria Royals, the Prince George Cougars have drawn first blood. Ryan Hanes and Brett Roulston each had two goals while Alex Forsberg notched three assists, and the Prince George Cougars earned a 5-4 victory over the Victoria Royals.

Victoria controlled the early tempo and were rewarded at the 5:20 mark when Steven Hodges put one on goal from just inside the Cougars blueline. The puck somehow snuck its way past Mac Engel, and the Royals had the early advantage.

35-seconds later though, the Cougars tied it when Brett Roulston fired a shot on goal from the left circle that beat Patrick Polivka up high. His sixth of the season had the Cougars back even.

Ryan Hanes then put the Cougars ahead at 14:24 when he received a nice backhand pass from Alex Forsberg, and buried one past Polivka form the right circle for his second of the season. Dan Gibb would add an assist on that play.

The Victoria Royals took two late penalties in the first period, and it cost them. Colin Jacobs took a Jake Mykitiuk pass along the left wing boards, and blasted one by the Victoria goaltender for his team-high 10^th of the season, and the Cougars took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The goal came with just three seconds left in the first period.

Early in the second, the Cougars further extended their lead when Brett Roulston took a Zach Pochiro pass, and made no mistake from the high slot. Zach Pochiro and Joseph Carvalho each recorded their second assists of the game on Roulston’s marker.

That goal spelt the end of the line for goaltender Patrick Polivka, who was replaced by backup Coleman Vollrath.

At 7:30 of the second, Jamie Crooks made it 4-2 on Victoria’s first power play opportunity. He snuck in from the slot, and beat Mac Engel from in close for his 12^th of the season. Ben Walker then made it 4-3 at the 15:26 mark.

But back came the Cougars when Ryan Hanes buried his second of the game, and third of the season. Alex Forsberg took the initial shot, which Vollrath stopped, but Hanes put the rebound in to restore the two-goal lead.

Prince George had a 21-12 edge in the shots department through two periods.

Victoria came out firing in the third period, and were eventually rewarded at 11:01 when Brandon Magee appeared to tip a Brett Cote point-shot past Mac Engel for his 11^th when the teams were playing four-on-four.

The Royals then thought they’d tied it a few moments later, but Mac Engel was clearly interfered with, and the goal did not stick.

From then on, Mac Engel kept the door shut, and the Cougars held on for their second consecutive victory, and their ninth win of the 2012-2013 season. Their record now sits at 9-11-1-3

The Cougars finished two-for-five on the power play and killed off three of their four penalties. The final shot tally had the Cougars outshooting Victoria 28-24.

These teams will face each other for the second straight evening on Saturday night in Victoria.