The Victoria Royals pulled out a win tonight against the Kamloops Blazers at the Save On Foods Memorial Arena, scoring with thirty seconds remaining to secure the win. The game was wide-open at times, as plenty of odd-man rushes forced each team’s goaltenders to come up with timely saves.
The Royals came into tonight’s action after looking dominant in their first two games. They easily dispatched the Vancouver Giants with a combination of offense, sharp special teams and solid goaltending from the WHL Goaltender of the Week Griffen Outhouse (.975 SVP; 1.07 GAA). The Blazers played in their second game in as many nights, and were looking for their first win of the season. Tonight was a return home to Vancouver Island for netminder Dylan Ferguson of Lantzville, BC, who is fresh off of signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights.
In the first period of play, both teams showed some speed, end-to-end action saw each goalie busy making key saves. Outhouse was busy, making a couple of acrobatic saves to keep the game scoreless. The Royals scored first, a power-play marker by Ryan Peckford with assists from Hannoun and Phillips. The Blazers responded almost immediately, with Jackson Sheppard scoring unassisted after a miscommunication bobble between defenseman Anthony Bishop and Outhouse at the side of the net led to the puck on Sheppard’s stick for the goal. At the end of the first period, the game was tied at a goal apiece. Kamloops outshot the Royals in the first period and Head Coach Dan Price referenced it saying “There were many times tonight I would say we got a little too aggressive offensively and gave Kamploops a chance to transition, and Outhouse was there as always to bail us out.”
The second period featured some high emotions, as Ralph Jarrett came to the defense of his teammate Jared Freadrich after he was knocked down by a charge. A scrum ensued, resulting in penalties to both teams. After Blazers forward Garrett Pilon took a penalty for tripping, Dante Hannoun buried a rebound on the man-advantage to make it 2-1 Victoria. An interesting play followed as Ferguson aggressively dove out of the crease to pounce on a loose puck that was being charged down on by the Royals Igor Martynov. The Blazer netminder was nabbed for delay of game, followed by a bench minor, which resulted in a full two minute five-on-three advantage for the Royals. The hot Victoria power play could not capitalize on the opportunity as Kamloops killed it off with some key saves by Ferguson and some key blocks, in particular Pilon getting in front of a Phillips chance.
The third frame saw the Blazers put some pressure on the Royals, hemming them in and drawing a penalty. D-Joe Gatenby scored on a screened shot from the point, the powerplay marker tying up the game. Victoria followed with a strong forecheck led by the bruising Spencer Gerth, resulting in a turnover and nice deke goal by Kaid Oliver to once again give the Royals the lead. Outhouse gave up a big rebound off of Blazer D-Nolan Kneen’s shot, which went straight to forward Nic Holowko who ripped it into the net to tie the game. With less than a minute to go in the game, Victoria’s Matthew Phillips went down on the way to the net and the Royals went to the powerplay again with 51 seconds remaining.
Shortly after, Phillips had a nice cross-ice feed to Peckford who scored the game-winning goal and his second of the night.
Kamloops came into the game ready, Royals Head Coach Dan Price said after the game of the Blazers “An extremely well-coached team, very prepared, very disciplined. Fast and physical, very aggressive on the forecheck. That was a tremendous challenge for us.” In the end the Royals powerplay continued to be a force and with the exception of the long two-man-advantage in the second period, it was deadly tonight with three goals and eight goals total for the season.
The Royals and Blazers meet again tomorrow in a late afternoon (3:05PM) in Victoria. Look for Kamloops to come out hungry for their first win while the Royals will look to tighten down their defensive play. The game will feature a chance for fans to skate with the players after the game
Phillips Named Captain
At the start of the game it was announced that Royals star forward Matthew Phillips was named team captain earlier in the day. When asked about wearing the “C’, Phillips said “Ever since I have been here as a fifteen-year-old there have been some pretty amazing captains and to be in that role now is pretty special, I don’t take it for granted. It’s not so much just me, we have really good leadership as a whole on this team but it is for sure a honour.”
Royals Subjects
- Victoria did not trail at all during tonight’s game
- Royals defenseman Matthew Smith (’00) played in his first regular season WHL game
- Fan attendance in Victoria was 5341.
