“I thought we had a really good first period…our guys were really sharp,” said Head Coach Dave Lowry,
“We were able to play the game the way that we wanted and needed to play, and our goalie made some saves…”
Alex Forsberg in the second, and then held off Vancouver in the third to win their 3rd straight on the road.
Vollrath earned his 5th shut out of the season and 51st career win, while his counterpart Cody Porter allowed 2 goals on 25 shots.
Vollrath now shares the franchise’s single-season record with Lucas Gore (2009-10, 2010-11) and Patrik Polivka (2013-14)
With the victory, the Royals set all-time franchise single season mark with 7 shutouts in a season.
“That’s what we wanted, we wanted to initiate and not retaliate, and I didn’t really want our guys to have to be put into those situations.” said Lowry on staying out of the box.
“We’re playing to make sure that our game is playoff ready, and I thought our discipline was outstanding.”
The Giants lost their 8th in a row, and with 4 games left are 6 points back of three teams for the final Wild Card spot.
During the 8 losses, they’ve been outscored 34-9 and shut out 4 times.
Victoria has locked up 2nd in the BC Divison and home ice in the first round. Prince George and Kamloops are tied for 3rd with 61 points each.
The contest had a pair of fights with Royals Bryton Sayers squaring off against Jackson Houck after laying a big hit on Zane Jones in the second period.
“He’s done exactly what we needed,” said Lowry on Sayers adding some sandpaper up front,
“He’s provided a real good lift and he’s been a real physical presence for us.”
Victoria’s Ryan Gagnon had a dust up with Dakota Odgers in the third.
The Royals even the season series with the Giants at 4 games a piece. They’ll face off again in Victoria Saturday night at 7 and Sunday at 1, playing 3 in 3 days.
“We’ll be in familiar territory, and that’s something we look forward too.” according Lowry on ending a road trip with 3 in a row, but back at home.
The Royals wrapped up a 4 game BC Division road trip with a 3-1 record, taking 6 of a possible 8 points.
With 233 goals scored this year, Victoria needs 5 more to tie the franchise record of 238 in a season set last year.
Joe Hicketts leads all defenseman in the league in points with 61, including 50 assists the most ever in a season in Royals team history. Mark Santorelli had 74 helpers with the Bruins in 2008 setting the franchise record.
Tyler Soy, ranked 152nd by NHL CSS is 3rd in team scoring with 61 points. He was also listed at 64th by TSN’s Craig’s List.
Victoria is led by Calgary drafted Austin Carroll’s 75 points including 36 goals which is one shy of the Royals record of 37 in a season scored by Jamie Crooks.
Pregame show at 6:40 Saturday from Victoria against Vancouver, on The Zone @ 91.3 fm, or online at cjzn.streamon.fm
- Marlon Martens
Victoria Royals 2 at Vancouver Giants 0 - Status: Final
Friday, March 13, 2015 - Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC
Victoria 1 1 0 - 2
Vancouver 0 0 0 - 0
1st Period-
1, Victoria, Magee 21 7:49 (SH).
Penalties-Crunk Vic (elbowing), 4:21; Sleptsov Vic (hooking), 7:07; Chase Vic (roughing), 15:45; Geertsen Van (roughing), 15:45.
2nd Period-
2, Victoria, Forsberg 26 (Carroll, Soy), 2:11.
Penalties-Sayers Vic (major-fighting), 5:11; Houck Van (major-fighting), 5:11.
3rd Period-
No Scoring.
Penalties-Atwal Van (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 6:47; Atwal Van (10-minute misconduct), 9:57; Jones Van (holding), 9:57; Gagnon Vic (major-fighting), 12:46; Odgers Van (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 12:46.
Shots on Goal-
Victoria 12-8-5-25.
Vancouver 5-10-10-25.
Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 / 3;
Vancouver 0 / 2.
Goalies-
Victoria, Vollrath 27-14-3-1 (25 shots-25 saves).
Vancouver, Porter 12-14-1-2 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-6,421
Referees-Steve Papp (17), Nick Swaine (35).
Linesmen-Michael Bean (148), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).
