A gutsy effort by the Victoria Royals fell just short as they were defeated in a shootout by the Calgary Hitmen 3-2.
Orca Wiesblatt scored in the sixth round of the shootout, securing the extra point for the visiting Hitmen.
The story of the game was Victoria’s starting goalie, Connor Martin who played tremendous in his first WHL game. The 17-year-old affiliated player made many game-saving stops, much to the delight of his teammates and the home crowd. Overall, Martin stopped 38 of 40 in a solid WHL debut.
“It was pretty cool,” said Martin on his debut. “Definitely the loud crowd made me feel nice and a good feeling for a debut. The nerves were definitely running there but calmed down a little bit through the game.”
The Calgary native had a tough first test in front of him, facing his hometown Hitmen all the way to a shootout, something the goalie likes. “I’m a huge fan of shootout. It was pretty special for it to go to that in my debut. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t come away with a victory tonight but with shootouts, there’s always an element of surprise. I think was just a great experience.”
“The guy played lights out,” said Kaid Oliver. “We were all rooting for him from the very start. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. The kid worked really hard in there and did a great job tonight.”
Victoria came into action Wednesday wounded, with six regulars out of the lineup. The offence would get a boost, as rookie Keanu Derungs returned after missing the last two games. The makeshift lineup held its own in the game, in particular, the line of Kaid Oliver, Gary Haden and Brandon Culter proved to be a handful for the opposition.
“Tremendous pride and admiration in our group,” said Victoria Head Coach Dan Price. “How hard they compete. It doesn’t matter the opponent, or the injuries, illness, or whatever. The guys always show up to play for each other and for our fans in Victoria. I feel bad for them that we didn’t get two points because we played hard enough to get two. But Calgary is a very good team and they earned that extra point.”
Calgary would strike first, as Mark Kastelic was wide open out front and buried a shot for his 31st of the year less than five minutes in. Riley Stotts made a nice pass to Kastelic, after drawing in the Royals players.
The Hitmen would look to add to their lead as they went to a power play. However, it would be Victoria that would respond while short-handed, as Oliver was given a penalty shot. Oliver was interfered with while breaking in all alone, enough for the officials to make the call. The White Rock, BC native would capitalize, showing a quick deke than rifling a shot past Jack McNaughton for the rare short-handed penalty shot goal at 15:09.
“I was looking at the depth of the goalie [in the net], he played it really well,” said Oliver on the goal. “I was going to make a move but he was deep in the net, so I just tried to put it over his shoulder and luckily it went in.”
The first period would end with the score tied at one goal apiece, with the shots favouring the Hitmen 12 to 11.
Victoria would open the scoring early in the second, as Phillip Schultz intercepted a clearing pass and feed Gary Haden out front who buried it. The goal at 1:51 was the 22nd powerplay point for Haden, cashing in with the man-advantage.
Victoria would have some excellent chances, however, McNaughton made some nice saves and also had some help from the crossbar. At the other end, Martin looked calm and cool, saving all nine second periods shots he faced.
The early period goals continued in the third period. Kastelic scored his second of the night, this time with the man-advantage. A rebound off a Martin save went straight to the Ottawa Senators prospect, who buried it for his 32nd of the season at 3:49.
In the third period with less than two minutes remaining Victoria went to the power play. Calgary would successfully run out the clock, with nine seconds of the man-advantage carried to overtime.
In the extra time, there were excellent chances at each end and both goalies continued to be on their game.
Martin then made his best save of the game. After making the initial stop, the puck bounced up and towards the net. The youngster flashed the glove and saved a sure goal, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Overtime solved nothing and the game went to a shootout. In the sixth round of the shootout, Calgary sealed the win on an Orca Wiesblatt goal.
Up next for the Royals, they welcome the Memorial Cup hosts and BC Division rival for a pair of games this weekend. For the Hitmen, they continue their British Columbia road trip with a matchup against the Vancouver Giants on Friday.
