Victoria won 8-1 one night earlier, and now take a 2-1 season series lead. They’ll meet in Spokane for a fourth and final time on January 30th.
“Coming back from a game such as last night it’s easy to get complacent,” said Interim Head Coach Enio Sacilotto, “…I’m really proud of our guys of the way they came out…we battled from the first minute right to the last minute…and I think we earned the victory tonight.”
The Royals extended their winning streak to 3 games, while handing the Chiefs their second loss in a row after winning 7 straight.
Victoria overcame a 2-1 deficit in the middle frame with a pair of goals, and added an empty netter in the third for insurance.
Coleman Vollrath made 26 saves for the victory, while Garrett Hughson stopped 27 in the loss. Vollrath robbed Keanu Yamamoto with 2:43 left in the third to preserve the lead, along with a breakaway save in the middle frame on Helewka, who notched his 20th in the first.
Hughson drew a slashing penalty on Axel Blomqvist in the middle frame, drawing the ire of the home fans. Hughson also made a highlight reel save, stopping Carroll on a 2 on 0 breakaway with Greg Chase.
“It was a really emotional game…both goalies made some great saves, made the game really interesting - it was a lot of fun to play.” said defenseman Ryan Gagnon.
Victoria was 0 for 1 on the power play, while Spokane went 1 for 3.
Ralph Jarratt and Travis Brown also scored for the Royals. Brown pulls into a tie with Joe Hicketts for the league lead among defenseman in scoring with 38 points. Hicketts has been playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.
Carroll netted his 26th, and pulls into a tie for 3rd in overall goals with the Rockets Tyson Baillie.
Adam Helewak and Kailer Yamamoto had a goal and an assist each for the Chiefs.
Victoria now faces the #7 team in the CHL, the Medicine Hat Tigers Wednesday, and wrap up their 7 game home stand (3-1) next weekend with a pair against Prince George.
- Marlon Martens
Spokane Chiefs 2 at Victoria Royals 4 - Status: Final
Saturday, January 3, 2015 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Spokane 2 0 0 - 2
Victoria 1 2 1 - 4
1st Period-
1, Spokane, Helewka 20 (Bechtold, Ka. Yamamoto), 14:22.
2, Victoria, Jarratt 2 (Blomqvist, Nagy), 18:55.
3, Spokane, Ka. Yamamoto 16 (Helewka, Charif), 19:30 (PP).
Penalties-Fiala Spo (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 15:21; Carroll Vic (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 15:21; Soy Vic (boarding), 19:21.
2nd Period-
4, Victoria, Brown 15 (Fisher, Crunk), 8:49.
5, Victoria, Carroll 26 (Magee), 11:57.
Penalties-Hughson Spo (slashing), 13:34; Ibragimov Vic (hooking), 19:20.
3rd Period-
6, Victoria, Soy 13 (Carroll), 19:14 (EN).
Penalties-Magee Vic (10-minute misconduct), 19:14; Crunk Vic (boarding), 19:56; Chase Vic (10-minute misconduct), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-
Spokane 13-5-10-28.
Victoria 9-14-8-31.
Power Play Opportunities-
Spokane 1 / 3;
Victoria 0 / 1.
Goalies-
Spokane, Hughson 14-10-3-0 (30 shots-27 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 17-11-2-1 (28 shots-26 saves).
A-4,563
Referees-Fraser Lawrence (10), Nick Swaine (35).
Linesmen-Jeff MacAdams, Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).
