For the first time in over two calendar months the Prince George Cougars suffered a regulation loss on home ice. Friday night in Prince George the Victoria Royals struck twice in the first period and held on for a 2-0 victory over the Prince George Cougars. Jack Walker and Logan Fisher supplied the goals for Victoria while rookie goaltender Griffen Outhouse stopped all 39 Cougar shots fired his way to earn his second shutout of the season. Ty Edmonds made 31 saves in response for the Cougars.

It was the first time that these two B.C. Division rivals had met since their first round playoff series in April, and Cougars forward Colby McAuley did his best to fire up his team with a spirited first period fight with Royals defenceman Jordan Wharrie. Each player landed a series of punches before McAuley scored the takedown. 

At one point in the first the Cougars had outshot Victoria 9-0, but they were unable to solve Outhouse who made some timely saves early. 

Jack Walker opened the scoring for Victoria at the 7:30 mark of the first when he converted off a Tyler Soy pass of a two-on-one rush. Logan Fisher then increased the Royals lead to 2-0 when he carried the puck from the right wing all the way in front of the Cougars goal, out-waited Ty Edmonds and then lifted a shot over his right pad and in for his fifth of the season and a 2-0 lead for the visitors. 

Late in the first the Cougars came extremely close to getting on the board, but Outhouse dove to his left and robbed Chase Witala with the paddle of his stick to keep his team ahead by two. Victoria took their  two goal lead into the first intermission and outshot the Cougars 14-13. 

Despite a 14-9 shot advantage in the second period the Cougars were still not able to solve Griffen Outhouse. At the other side Ty Edmonds did a superb job for the Cougars at keeping his team within striking distance. 

More of the same occurred in the third period. The Cougars would generate some terrific scoring chances, but Griffen Outhouse continued to make the necessary saves. Brad Morrison alone had two point-blank chances to strike in the third, but was denied each time by the former Cariboo Cougars netminder. Prince George outshot the Royals 12-10 in the final frame but were ultimately held without a goal for just the second time this season. The final shots were 39-33 favoring the Cougars. Neither team was able to capitalize on their power plays with Victoria going zero-for-three and the Cougars went zero-for-one. 

For the Cougars it was their 11^th loss of the season and just their second regulation loss since November 18^th and their first at home since October 17^th against the Kelowna Rockets. Their record falls to 20-11-1-1. With the victory the Royals now climb two points ahead of the Cougars for second in the B.C. Division with a record of 21-11-1-1. 

Fortunately these teams won’t have to wait long to get reacquainted as the Prince George Cougars will host their 2015 Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday night, and very few seats remain for what should be a thrilling rematch between these two rivals.