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Royals shutout Cougars, earn midweek split

The Victoria Royals turned the tables on the host Prince George Cougars Wednesday night with a 1-0 shutout win

The Victoria Royals turned the tables on the host Prince George Cougars Wednesday night with a 1-0 shutout win, just 24 hours after losing 2-0 to the Cougars on Tuesday.

Ben Walker broke a scoreless tie at 7:40 of the second period during a Cougars power play. The Royals forced a turnover at the Cougars blueline, and Brandon Fushimi slid the puck to Ben Walker who broke in alone on goalie Ty Edmonds and beat him with a forehand deke for Walker's first goal of the season.

Royals goalie Patrik Polivka stopped all 28 shots he faced in goal, while Edmonds turned aside 23 of the 24 Royals' shots.

Both teams had their chances. Edmonds made a big early stop off of Logan Nelson, and Polivka denied Chase Witala on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless.

The Cougars outshot Victoria 9-5 in the final period. It's Polivka sixth career victory against the Cougars, who outshot Victoria 28-24.

Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.

With the loss, the Cougars record falls to 3-4 while the Royals improved to 3-4 with their third road victory. The Cougars are now 2-2 on home ice, and will look to get back to .500 when they face the Kamloops Blazers on the road on Saturday night.

The Royals are in Kamloops on Friday and home to the Tri City Americans for a matinee game, 1 p.m. Sunday at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, followed by a family and kids skate with the players.

- Prince George Free Press