Victoria opens post All-Star Game schedule with 4-1 loss at home to Las Vegas

Published on January 29, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Victoria, BC - In a Friday night regular season contest at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Salmon Kings took on the Western Conference leading Las Vegas Wranglers in the opener of a three game series. The Salmon Kings started David Shantz in goal, while the Wranglers gave the reigning ECHL Goaltender of the Week Joe Fallon the nod in net.

After a short mid-week All-Star Break, both teams came out energized to start the game and were looking to get an early jump on the series. Shantz looked sharp early on stopping a point blank shot in the slot from Greg Collins and later on when Ryan Huddy was left alone in front. Las Vegas got on the board at the 15:25 mark of the first period when Kevin Schaeffer took a snap shot from the point that found its way through traffic in front to beat a screened Shantz. Shortly after the goal Kings' defenseman Gord Burnett tried to spark some energy in his team by dropping the gloves against Wranglers forward Blair Riley off the faceoff. Riley got the early advantage by grabbing Burnett's punching arm before throwing an array of punches without landing any serious shots before the linesman broke it up. Victoria tried to get the equalizer late in the frame when Ryan Turek broke in on a 3-on-1 and fed a saucer pass over to Ryan MacMurchy who was stopped by Fallon. After 20 minutes, the Wranglers outshot the Salmon Kings 17-6 and took a one goal lead into the first intermission.

Victoria came out hard to start the second period but couldn't beat Fallon when Milan Gajic was stopped after stick-handling his way out of the corner and tried to go five hole. Victoria controlled much of the possession in the first five minutes of the second period but were kept off the score sheet which would prove costly for the remainder of the period. As Las Vegas put pressure on the Salmon Kings, Colin Long's shot rang off the far post and Riley was left with the easy tap in past Shantz. Las Vegas continued to pressure the Victoria netminder throughout the second period who stood tall on a partial break away against Ryan Huddy. Huddy would eventually get the better of the Victoria netminder when he took a pass down low off the cycle and walked out front to snap a shot top shelf at the 16:12 mark. With less than a minute remaining in the second, Matt Price's hard work was rewarded when he followed up on his own rebound down the right wing to chip a shot past Shantz on the short side. Salmon King fans were left with a sour taste in their mouth going into the second intermission as their team's hard work to start the second period was foiled by three goals in under five minutes. Las Vegas led 4-0 after 40 minutes.

Las Vegas gave Victoria an opportunity to get back in the game as they took two penalties to start the third period. Fallon proved to be the Wranglers' best penalty killer as he stopped Gajic in front and followed up with two point blank opportunities from Hennigar and Butcher. Just over the halfway point of the third period Wrangler defenseman Craig Switzer took a delay of game penalty while Chris Higgins was already in the box, giving Victoria a 5-on-3 advantage for almost a minute. Much to the excitement of the home fans, Rick Cleaver got Victoria on the board. Ryan Turek started off the scoring sequence who passed it down low to Tim Kraus. The Salmon Kings' forward in-turn fed it into the slot to Rick Cleaver who one-timed it top shelf over the glove of Fallon. The Salmon Kings tried to mount a late charge and climb back in the contest but the game's flow came to halt as both teams took trips to the penalty box. Geoff Waugh showed his frustration late in the game after getting tripped dangerously knee-first into the boards by Huddy. Waugh took exception to the hit, ripped off his gloves and jumped on the Wranglers' forward looking to fight, but the Las Vegas leading goal scorer showed no interest as the officiating crew broke up the scrum. As time wound down in the contest, Milan Gajic took a huge hit as he came entered the offensive zone from defenseman Eddie DelGrosso. The Las Vegas rookie immediately scrummed with MacMurchy who jumped in to defend his teammate. Wranglers 4 Salmon Kings 1.

The Salmon Kings will look to bounce back tomorrow night in the second game of the three game series against the Las Vegas Wranglers. Puck drops tomorrow night at 7:05 and the third and final match of the series will take place Sunday afternoon at 1:05. Stick around after the game as fans get the opportunity to skate with the Salmon Kings. Skates are available by donation through the City of Victoria. For tickets call 250-220-7777 or visit www.selectyourtickets.com.

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ECHL Stories from January 29, 2011


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