Gord Rufh

Royals torch Blazers win streak on milestone night

The Victoria Royals put an end to the Kamloops Blazers winning streak Saturday on a night where they honoured a milestone.

Longtime Head Equipment Manager Matt Auerbach worked his 1000th career regular-season game Saturday and was recognized for the achievement before the game.

Since the inception of the Victoria/Chilliwack franchise in 2006 Auerbach has been part of the club, also serving one season with the Regina Pats as their equipment manager.

For the Royals, it was important to get a victory for their well-liked equipment manager to help celebrate his milestone.

Tarun Fizer opened the scoring with a breakaway goal (photo-Chris Mast)

“When we came to the rink this morning, that was the first thing we talked about,” said Tarun Fizer. “The team wanted to get it for Matty [Auerbach]. We had a little more pep in our step.”

After scoring two goals late in the first period, Victoria hung on to claim a 2-1 victory over their division rivals. The victory snapped a six game winning streak for Kamloops.

Royals goaltender Shane Farkas was the game’s first star.  The native of Penticton was within 90 seconds of a shutout before Kamloops finally slipped one by him. Farkas gave credit to his teammates, “The guys in front of me made it really easy. I’ve never seen so many guys block shots within three, five and seven feet of the net. They were all diving around and really sacrificing their bodies. So it’s just as much on them as it is myself.”

Coming into action Saturday, Kamloops looked to continue their hot streak and played for their seventh straight victory. For the Royals, Friday’s loss to the Blazers was the first in nine regular-season contests at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, with the previous Blazers win in Victoria coming on February 11, 2017.

Dylan Garand was once again in the Kamloops net and continued to be hot, only allowing two goals in the last three games. Farkas got the start at the other end for the Royals, taking over from Brock Gould who started the last three games for Victoria.

Early in the first period, Blazers Trevor Thurston caught Noah Lamb with a knee. Thurston was given a five minute major and a game misconduct.  Victoria was unable to make the man advantage count, as the league’s best penalty-killing team Kamloops kept the game scoreless.

The penalties continued for both teams, with Kamloops seeing seven minutes of penalties in the first eleven minutes of action.

Fizer opened the scoring as he gloved down a Kaid Oliver pass to break in all alone and beat Garand at 17:32.

“It was a very nice play by Oli [Kaid Oliver],” said Fizer. “I just caught it and went down on a breakaway. I saw the glove was open, so a quick shot that hit the post went in.”

Victoria added to their lead as Will Warm sniped home the puck on the powerplay. The shot beat Garand over the blocker at 19:16 and was the first of the season for Warm. The goals came just 1:44 apart to give Victoria the 2-0 lead.

A scoreless second period saw much of the play controlled by the Blazers, however, Victoria closed out the period with their two-goal lead intact. Period shots were 14-7 in favour of the visiting team.

The third period saw a push by Kamloops, however, the Royals were able to hold on. Zane Franklin scored late with less than 90 seconds remaining to make it interesting, but the Royals and Farkas shut the door.

1000th Game

The Royals Head honoured Matt Auerbach for his 1000th career regular-season game with a pregame presentation at centre ice. As well, a vignette from current staff, former players and Auerbach’s family played, where all showed their appreciation for the work he has done. Since the inception of the Victoria/Chilliwack franchise in 2006, Auerbach has been part of the club, also serving one season with the Regina Pats as their equipment manager.

“Matty is really the backbone of this team,” said Farkas of Auerbach. “When we’re all at home, or sleeping on the road or just have days off, he’s here at the rink he’s working hard. He doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as he deserves.”

Up Next

The Royals now have a record of 5-5-1-0 and have a short turnaround as the Kelowna Rockets come to town for a pair of games, with the first matchup Tuesday, October 29th.

The Blazers take their 9-5-0-0 record south of the border for three games versus the US Division.  Kamloops faces the Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks, and Seattle Thunderbirds during their five-game road trip.