The Victoria Royals had a strong home opener as they prevailed against the Prince George Cougars on Friday.
The Royals earned their first win of the regular season with a 2-1 victory over the Cougars with Keanu Derungs scoring the game winner and his first career Western Hockey League goal.
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Derungs is from Kloten, Switzerland and was selected by the Royals in the first round, 28th overall, in the 2019 CHL Import Draft.
On the Royals side, Carson Miller scored the other goal and Gary Haden, Logan Doust, Brandon Cutler and River Fahey each had one assist.
Prince George’s Matej Toman scored for the Cougars and Ryan Schoettler and Rhett Rhinehart had one assist each.
Goaltending for the Royals was Shane Farkas who had 22 saves on 23 shots. The Cougars goaltender was Taylor Gauthier who saved 33 out of 35 shots.
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Since 2011, the Victoria Royals have posted a 6-3-0-0 record in their nine home openers. In last season’s home opener, Victoria beat Prince George 2-1 but the game was decided in a shootout. The team has also posted a record of 47-17-1-1 against the Cougars since moving to Vancouver Island in 2011.
The teams will face off again Saturday night at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Select Your Tickets box office, over the phone by calling 250-220-7777 or online at www.selectyourtickets.com.
