Friday 24 October 2014

Recap: VAN 1 - VIC 2

Coleman Vollrath sports the Royals
new 3rd Jersey in a 2-1 win over Giants
The Victoria Royals used a pair of power play goals to get past the visiting Vancouver Giants 2-1 Friday night.

“Specialty teams tonight were key…we scored two on the power play and killed off 3 really big penalties, especially in the third…” – Royals Assistant Coach Enio Sacilotto

Netminder Coleman Vollrath made 28 saves, with 13 coming in the 3rd period to earn first star honours.  CHL Goaltender of the Week nominee, Payton Lee turned aside 27 in the loss.

“Coleman Vollrath had a great night, played a great game.” Said Sacilotto

Brandon Magee in his first home game of the season scored the eventual winner in the 2nd period giving him 3 points in 2 games (1g 2a), while Travis Brown notched his 4th of the year in the first.

Giants Carter Popoff scored his team leading 8th of the season to draw his side to within one in the final frame.

The Royals won their 3rd straight game for the first time this season as they pull one game over .500 (7-6-1-0) and 3 points up on the Giants in the BC Division.

Victoria went 2 for 4 with the man advantage while shutting down the 5th best power play in the league on all 3 Vancouver chances.

The Royals have locked down their defensive game as of late, only allowing 6 goals in their last 4 outings, and just 3 against over their 3 game win streak.

“Our team defense is getting a lot better, our goaltending has been a lot better – those are key areas to get your goals against down…” according to Sacilotto

The two clubs meet again on the Island Saturday in the annual Pink in the Rink night, with a chance for Victoria to even the season series at 2 (1-2).

- Marlon Martens

Vancouver Giants 1 at Victoria Royals 2 - Status: Final
Friday, October 24, 2014 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Vancouver 0 0 1 - 1
Victoria 1 1 0 - 2

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Brown 4 (Soy, Carroll), 12:52 (PP).

Penalties-Geertsen Van (major-fighting), 0:38; Kanzig Vic (major-fighting), 0:38; Atwal Van (charging, roughing), 11:40; Kanzig Vic (roughing), 11:40; Palmer Vic (holding), 18:28.

2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Magee 1 (Fushimi, Blomqvist), 4:32 (PP).

Penalties-Geertsen Van (interference), 2:58; Houck Van (inter. on goaltender), 15:22.

3rd Period-
3, Vancouver, Popoff 8 (Geertsen), 3:02.

Penalties-Hicketts Vic (slashing), 5:56; Crunk Vic (checking from behind), 9:52; Geertsen Van (hooking), 12:57.

Shots on Goal-
Vancouver 7-8-14-29.
Victoria 9-13-7-29.

Power Play Opportunities-
Vancouver 0 / 3;
Victoria 2 / 4.

Goalies-
Vancouver, Lee 6-4-0-0 (29 shots-27 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 6-5-1-0 (29 shots-28 saves).

A-5,161
Referees-Ryan Benbow (62), Derek Zalaski (8).
Linesmen-Blake Copeland (95), Riley Friesen (76).