NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Victoria Royals

Royals Edged out by Rebels

February 16, 2013 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Victoria Royals News Release


Red Deer, AB - In a Friday night contest at the Enmax Centrium, the Victoria Royals went up against the Red Deer Rebels in the first of three road games in three nights. The Royals started Patrik Polivka in net, while the Rebels sent Patrik Bartosak in between the pipes.

Victoria's best opportunity came just seconds into the opening period when Brett Cote found himself open in the slot. Cote fired a wrist shot on goal, but Bartosak was equal to the task. Both teams had opportunities to open the scoring on the powerplay, but neither team was able to find the back of the net and the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.

The second period was an up-tempo affair as both teams tried to break the deadlock. The Royals created a flurry of chances around the Red Deer net in the middle frame, but Bartosak was the difference once again. Despite outshooting the Rebels 20-9 in the period Victoria settled for a scoreless as the teams headed into the second intermission.

Tim Traber scored his fourth goal of the season at 4:28 of the third period to finally open the scoring and give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Brandon Fushimi picked up a loose puck to the right of the Red Deer net before he swung the puck on goal. The puck deflected off of a defender to Traber in the slot who got just enough on the shot to chip it over Bartosak and across the line. Polivka turned out multiple key saves in the late stages of the game, but Matt Dumba eventually tied things up for Red Deer with a powerplay marker at 17:29. Rhyse Dieno spotted Dumba at the left post before the 2012 Minnesota Wild first-rounder hacked the puck over top of Polivka and narrowly over the goal line. Dumba's 13th goal of the season forced the game to overtime with Royals and Rebels level at one goal apiece.

Victoria was penalized early in the extra frame, but the penalty kill unit held strong. After Bartosak and Polivka each made four saves the game would head to a shootout in order to determine a victor. Logan Nelson shot first for the Royals and swung wide left, but Bartosak made a left pad save to deny the Victoria forward. Dieno was the Rebels first shooter and slotted a backhand attempt past Polivka's glove to give Red Deer the edge. After Brandon Magee missed for the Royals and Red Deer's Dominik Volek was denied, Steven Hodges needed to score to extend the shootout for the road team. Hodges' attempt was thwarted by Bartosak and the home team grabbed the win. Rebels 2 Royals 1 in a shootout

Victoria went 0/40.0% on the powerplay, while Red Deer went 1/714.3%. The Royals outshot the Rebels 45-39.

Victoria now heads to Calgary to face-off against the Hitmen tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The Royals' next home game is Friday, February 22nd when the Kelowna Rockets visit the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for a 7:05 p.m. start.

We are Royal Blue! Are you? Guarantee yourself the best seats for upcoming Royals games by visiting www.selectyourtickets.com, calling 250-220-7777 or visiting the Select Your Tickets box-office at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Mini-Packs, Vouchers and special rates for groups of 10+ are available by visiting www.victoriaroyals.com or calling 250-220-7889.

Check out the Victoria Royals Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...

Western Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central