Keanu Derungs Gets Only Goal in Royals Loss
October 23, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Victoria Royals News Release
Victoria, B.C. - The Victoria Royals lost 5-1 to the Prince George Cougars on Friday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Victoria came into the game looking to get a win against the Prince George after the Cougars took both games last week. Both teams took penalties within the first ten minutes of the game, but neither were able to get the first goal of the game. With just over five minutes in the first, Keanu Derungs took a high stick to the face giving giving the Royals a four-minute power play. 34 seconds into the penalty, Prince George took another to give the Royals a two-man advantage. Despite some incredible chances, the first period ended 0-0.
The Royals started off the second period a man short for 1:49 after Igor Zborovskiy took a boarding penalty late in the first. On the penalty kill, Keanu Derungs scored a short-handed unassisted goal with a slapshot from just beneath the blue line to make it a 1-0 game. Prince George was able to tie the game up after Ryker Singer shot one to the high right of Tyler Palmer. The Cougars would get the lead with seven minutes left in the second on a goal from Jonny Hooker to make it 2-1. After the Cougars got their third of the night from Koehn Ziemmer at 6:56, Victoria pulled goalie Tyler Palmer and placed Logan Cunningham in net. With a crowd in front of the net, Craig Armstrong got the fourth goal of the night for the Cougars and minutes later Kaden Brown scored their fifth goal.
After 40 minutes of play, the Royals were making every effort to get another goal past Tyler Brennan. The team had several close chances and battled hard against the aggressive Cougars but were unable to get on board again.
"It's easy for coaches to talk in clichés and say we've got to be better," GM and Head Coach Dan Price told media. "It's really a shooting mentality. Prince George did a really good job creeping into those shot blockers, so we need to do a better job of using space in the offensive zone and we need to have a much better net front presence."
The three stars of the night were Craig Armstrong (PG), Koehn Ziemmer (PG) and Hudson Thornton (PG).
Tomorrow night, the two teams are back at it for the "Royals Halloween Spooktacular on Outdoors Night" where Halloween lovers both big and small can trick-or-treat around the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The Royals also welcome local Victoria businesses who will be promoting all things outdoors on the concourse.
For tickets, visit Select Your Ticket, call the Select Your Tickets box office or stop by the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Ticket Office Wednesday through Friday between 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Ticket prices start at $25 for students, seniors and corner seats, $30 for sides and ring and go up to $39 for Premium Club seating.
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