WHL Victoria Royals

Royals Trump Silvertips in Shootout

Published on January 1, 2014 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Victoria Royals News Release


Victoria, BC - In a New Year's Day meeting at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals hosted the Everett Silvertips to wrap up a two-game, home-and-home series. The Royals gave Patrik Polivka the start in net while Everett went with Austin Lotz between the pipes.

Victoria came out looking to set the physical tone early on as Ryan Gagnon, Mitch Skapski and Keegan Kanzig threw big hits to open the game. The Royals' best chance came off the stick of defencemen Brett Cote. After receiving a cross-ice pass from Steven Hodges, Cote was sent in alone down the wing only to have his effort denied by the blocker of Lotz and the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.

The second period began with a spirited fight between Royals' forward Logan Fisher and the Silvertips' Brayden Low after Fisher threw a big hit just 27 seconds into the frame. Shortly thereafter, the Silvertips believed to have the game's first goal off of a deflection by Tyler Sandhu, but a review determined that the puck was knocked in with a high stick. Victoria had a great opportunity to put a goal on the board late in the second period when Hodges fed Austin Carroll at point blank range, but Carroll was denied by a big glove save from Lotz. The teams traded powerplay chances to end the period, but the score remained 0-0 at the second intermission.

The Royals began the third period with a great opportunity to open the scoring after Axel Blomqvist corralled the puck behind the net and fed an open Ben Walker in the slot, but Lotz came up with another big save. Victoria pressed to break the deadlock, throwing 17 shots at the Everett net in the frame, but regulation time failed to solve anything and overtime was needed.

After a scoreless overtime period, the two teams headed to a shootout to determine a winner as each goaltender was credited with a shutout for the first time in franchise history. The shutout gave Polivka his league-leading fifth of the year. The first round saw Victoria's Ben Walker and Everett's Ivan Nikolishin fail to score. In the second round, Jack Walker made a quick move to his backhand and placed a shot top corner past Lotz to give the Royals the edge. Polivka followed up the Jack Walker goal with a big left pad save on Jujhar Khaira. Hodges was unable to end the game for Victoria, but another save from Polivka on Carson Standnyk sealed the victory for the home team. Victoria 1 Everett 0, in a shootout.

Victoria went 0/50.0% on the powerplay, while Everett went 0/20.0%. The Royals outshot the Silvertips 30-24.

The Royals will now head to Spokane and Portland for a two-game road trip that begins this Friday. The Royals return home on Friday, January 10th to host Team Canada World Junior star Nic Petan and the Portland Winterhawks for a two-game set!

We are Royal Blue, are you? 2013-14 season ticket, mini-plan and group packages are now available! To guarantee yourself the best seats at the best prices call 250-220-7889, visit www.victoriaroyals.com, or head down to the Victoria Royals Ticketing Office located at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Kids Club memberships, for fans 12 years and younger, are also available for only $20 and include four child tickets, a t-shirt, newsletters from Marty the Marmot and much more!

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 1, 2014


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