Saturday night in Prince George, the Cougars took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but two Victoria goals in a 49 second span tilted the game back into Victoria’s favor, and the Royals held on for a 4-3 win. Daulton Siwak had a goal and an assist for the Cougars while Jack Walker and Brandon Magee each had two assists for Victoria.

The Royals drew first blood at the 7:25 mark of the first period. Jamie Crooks took a pass on the left-wing and skated wide past the Cougars defence and beat Mac Engel through the legs for his 14^th goal of the season. Then at 12:03 on a five-on-three power play, the Royals struck again when Austin Carroll knocked down a puck from the back-boards and beat Mac Engel for his fourth.

After the 2-0 goal, the Cougars found some life. Daulton Siwak make a strong effort short-handed to force the puck loose, and even after he was tripped down the left side of the ice, he got to his feet, and made a strong push to the net before beating Patrik Polivka for his sixth of the season. It was the first shorthanded marker of the season for Prince George.

Ryan Hanes then tied the game at 17:50 when Alex Forsberg made a beautiful pass through a series of sticks right onto Hanes, who went in alone on Polivka and roofed one for his fourth of the season. Daulton Siwak added an assist.

The second period belonged entirely to the Prince George Cougars who outshot Victoria 17-4. Patrik Polivka made several big-time saves, but the Cougars eventually beat him at 10:08, when defenceman Marc McNulty launched a puck from the left point that found its way past Patrik Polivka. McNulty’s fifth of the season moved the Cougars ahead 3-2.

Late in the second, the Cougars had several more key opportunities, but were denied and only up by one after 40 minutes.

Victoria responded well in the third period with several early opportunities but the Cougars were able to withstand the pressure. It was until the 12:15 mark when Mitch Deacon made a nice move to beat a defender, and beat Mac Engel from in close to tie the game at three.

49 seconds later, the final goal of the game was scored when Brett Cote put a hard shot towards the goal from the left point. Cote’s shot found its way through traffic and past goaltender Mac Engel for his fourth of the season.

The Cougars made a valiant push in the final minutes, but Patrik Polivka kept the door shut, helping Victoria earn the weekend sweep in Prince George.

The Cougars were zero-for-five on the power play while they killed off one of their two penalties. The final shot tally had the Cougars ahead of Victoria 37-26.

Next up, a matchup with the Moose Jaw Warriors Tuesday night in Prince George.