The Victoria Royals and Vancouver Giants played a pair of close games this past weekend and for both teams there were plenty of takeaways.
Victoria suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday, and as good as the story of the underdog team being unbeaten, the first loss was inevitable. ”There is always that running joke that it’d be nice to go 68-0 but it’s not going to happen, you’re going to lose every once and a while,” said Victoria Head Coach Dan Price post game on Sunday. “It’s a matter of how you respond to it.”
The Royals looked guilty of some layoff rust and were admittedly caught a little flat-footed by the Giants in both games by the Vancouver counter-game. Price took ownership for his club getting off their game plan, “The way you counter the counter is to not give them the puck. We need to make sure we are better prepared on how we manage the puck and that’s my responsibility, to make sure everyone understands the game plan. If that is not executed, that’s on the coach, not the players.”
“You never know at the start of a year who is going to click with who. But if we are clicking, I like it. I hope we keep rolling with it because it’s helping the team.” – D-Jay Jerome
A positive for the Royals was the continued solid play of D-Jay Jerome. Jerome played solid in each each game, and continues to show a step forward this season. Asked about what has helped him benefit this season, Jerome said “I have a personal trainer at home with them every day, one and one then on and off the ice. And I think that was the biggest thing for me, just focusing on what to do and doing it every day.” As line mate Kaid Oliver is netting some big goals, Jerome is also starting to rack up some points, showing some chemistry along with Igor Martynov. “You never know at the start of a year who is going to click with who. But if we are clicking, I like it. I hope we keep rolling with it because it’s helping the team.”
Griffen Outhouse continued his solid play against the Giants, showing no signs of fatigue. Shades of last season, Victoria’s goaltender saw a lot of shots, but was there to backstop his team to keep them in the games. “The guys in front of me did a good job clearing out lanes, boxing out guys in front and then if I couldn’t see it, they were blocking it.” said Outhouse. “I’m happy with the boys this weekend on how we came out and battled.”
For Vancouver, they had to be happy with their first trip to the Island. Their transition game and the way they countered had the Royals on their heels. The Giants forced numerous turnovers and controlled the puck, especially in the second game. Their best players were exactly that, with James Malm, Milos Roman, Byram Bowen and David Tendeck all showing well. For Vancouver, perhaps more of a killer instinct could have been shown on Sunday to really lock the game away. However, that could be forgiven considering the three games in three nights, along with the excellent play of Outhouse.
Oliver the Overtime Hero (Victoria defeats Vancouver 3-2 in OT on Saturday)
Phillip Schultz had a good chance early off a miscue by the Giants in their own zone, but David Tendeck was sharp to keep it scoreless. Victoria got the first power play of the game and made it count as D-Jay Jerome banged home the puck through a scramble at 12:13. Owen Hardy then had a breakaway chance, but Outhouse was solid and steady in making the stop. Another chance came for Vancouver as a Royals defensive turnover led to a shot hitting the post. The persistence paid off, as 4-on-4, James Malm netted his eighth goal of the season, breaking in and going blocker-side on Outhouse at 18:52.
In the second Malm was crunched behind the Victoria net, resulting in the Giants first power play. The Royals killed the penalty off, and seemed to begin to find their legs. Victoria got the go ahead goal, lead by a play by Kaid Oliver. The Royals forward broke into the zone and drew the defence to him, allowing Jerome to take the pass and then feed it across to Brandon Culter for the 2-1 goal.
Milos Roman tied the game, taking a nice feed from Davis Koch and buried it blocker side on Outhouse. Vancouver pushed in the third period, hitting the crossbar late but could not prevent the game from going to overtime. In the extra frame, it was Oliver continuing the hot touch, pouncing on a rebound from a Hannoun shot to score the game winner at 4:35 of OT.
The Insurance Goal in last night's win was scored by @KaidOliver! Find all our #InsuranceGoals from this season at https://t.co/KhAn4ceee6. pic.twitter.com/CbVCExOVU1
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) October 14, 2018
Giants hand Victoria their first loss (Vancouver defeats Victoria 3-2 on Sunday)
Sunday’s game was an early affair, as the Royals celebrated their beloved mascot Marty the Marmot’s 13th birthday. For the second straight game D-Jay Jerome opened the scoring, as he got the puck at the side of net and slapped it home past David Tendeck at 4:21. Vancouver responded on the power play, as James Malm made a beautiful feed to Milos Roman at the side of the net. Roman made a nice tip, as Griffen Outhouse had no chance and the score was deadlocked 1-1. From there, the Giants continued to press, controlling the play and using short passes to breakout past the Royals defence. Their transition game paid off as Roman scored his second of the afternoon at 14:06, showing sweet hands in close after taking a nice feed from Watts to put the G-men up 2-1. Late in the first, Mitchell Prowse carried it into the Vancouver zone, and blasted a rocket up to the blocker-side of Tendeck. Victoria escaped the Giants pressure and headed into the second period tied 2-2.
The second period saw tempers flare as the after the whistle scrums picked up. Victoria hit two clean posts in the period, but could not add to their tally. The Giants continued their pressure, carrying much of the play. Vancouver, playing their third game in three nights, looked like the fresher team. Outhouse had to be superb to keep his team in it, but Brayden Watts banged it home at 16:21 after receiving a rebound from on the doorstop. After two periods, the Giants had a wide margin in shots, leading 30-12 after two periods.
The third period saw Vancouver tighten it down, as they continued to control possession. A late power play for the Royals made it interesting, but in the end the 2nd period goal by Watts stood as the game winner. The Giants took an impressive 3-2 victory and improved to 8-1-1-0 on the season wile ending Victoria’s win-streak at seven games.
Next up- The Defending Champs
“It’s the defending champs coming in. I know it’s a different year and different players, but the champs are still the champs. You are always going to get up to play a team like that.” – Dan Price on Swift Current
Coming west are the defending WHL champions the Swift Current Broncos. While they are not the same team as last year, the Broncos may be invigorated by the fresh west coast air and come out flying. For the Royals, they must avoid the infamous potential “trap” game. Victoria will look to bounce back after their first loss, while keeping the energy up in the middle of five games in eight days. “There is going to a big bounce back Wednesday,” said Jerome. “Most of all our practices tomorrow and the next day. That’s going to be the biggest thing for us going into Wednesday’s game. We need to have a good week and get rolling again.” Price added that his team will be ready, “It’s the defending champs coming in. I know it’s a different year and different players, but the champs are still the champs. You are always going to get up to play a team like that.”
