Jack Walker scored twice, and Alex Forsberg scored the
eventual winner as the Victoria Royals (30-15-2-3, 65pts) knocked off the
league leading Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-1 on the Island
Friday night.
“We were committed to playing our style, we played a
really good game…” said Head Coach Dave Lowry.
Forsberg broke a 1-1 third period draw with a power play
goal, to give the Royals their 4th consecutive victory and points in 7 straight
games (6-0-1-0).
“It was a tight game, I really liked the way that after (Lethbridge)
tied it up, our guys went back to work and stayed with it.” Said Lowry.
The Hurricanes ranked 6th in the CHL Top 10, (36-12-0-0,
72pts) had their 10 game winning streak snapped, losing their first game in
2016.
Lethbridge came
in as the most offensive team in the league, squaring off against Victoria’s
2nd most stingiest squad.
“What we needed was to play a good team game…the best
part about tonight, was we didn’t have any passengers.” commented Lowry
Victoria out shot Lethbridge 42 – 17, as ‘Canes netminder
Stuart Skinner earned first star hounours making 39 saves. Skinner entered the game earning back to back
shut outs, and held the Royals off the scoreboard until 5 minutes in the middle
frame, when Walker deflected a puck through his legs.
Victoria took
a 1-0 lead to the third, but Ryley Lindgren one timed a pass on the power play
past Coleman Vollrath (17/18) to draw even at 1-1.
Royals leading scorer Alex Forsberg (20th) restored the lead
with a sharp back hand top corner for the eventual game winner as Walker
(18th) added an empty net goal for insurance. Vladimir Bobylev chipped in with a pair of
assists.
“I liked our games start to finish.” quipped Lowry.
Victoria was 1
for 5 on the power play while stopping 3 of 4 Lethbridge
man advantages, ranked first in the league.
The 2nd place Royals pull 4 points up on the 3rd place
Cougars, and 5 on the Silvertips.
Victoria
travels and then plays Kelowna on
Saturday night at 7:30, the top team
in the Western Conference, 6 up on the Royals who took 3 of 4 points recently
in a back to back set on the Island.
The Rockets have won 5 in a row, and are ranked 7th in the
CHL Top 10.
“For us, this is like a playoff weekend, throw travel in,
it’s a quick turnaround. We have every
excuse in the book, but our guys will ride the momentum. We’re going into a tough building, playing
the 2nd best team in the league – it’s going to be another good challenge for
us.” Added Lowry.
Puck drop Saturday from Kelowna
is at 7:30 p.m on the Zone @ 91.3
fm, with the pregame show at 7:15.
-Marlon Martens
Lethbridge
Hurricanes 1 at Victoria Royals 3
- Status: Final
Friday, January 29, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Lethbridge 0 0 1 - 1
Victoria 0 1 2 - 3
1st Period-
Friday, January 29, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Lethbridge 0 0 1 - 1
Victoria 0 1 2 - 3
1st Period-
No Scoring.
Penalties-Burke Let (high sticking), 9:35; Nielsen Let
(cross checking), 10:15; Atwal Let (roughing), 19:54; Hicketts Vic (roughing),
19:54; Folk Let (roughing), 20:00; Gagnon Vic (roughing), 20:00.
2nd Period-
2nd Period-
1, Victoria, Walker
17 (Jarratt, Bobylev), 5:25.
Penalties-Reddekopp Vic (holding), 2:05; served by Anderson
Vic (too many men), 6:17.
3rd Period-
3rd Period-
2, Lethbridge,
Lindgren 20 (Burke, Nielsen), 5:40
(PP).
3, Victoria, Forsberg 20 (Bobylev, Hicketts), 9:45 (PP).
4, Victoria, Walker 18 18:43
(EN).
Penalties-Nielsen Let (high sticking), 1:00; Reddekopp Vic
(tripping), 2:47; Walker Vic (checking to the head), 4:59; Pankewicz Let
(tripping), 9:03; Lindgren Let (tripping), 12:52.
Shots on Goal-
Shots on Goal-
Lethbridge
5-4-8-17.
Victoria
16-11-15-42.
Power Play Opportunities-
Lethbridge 1 /
4;
Victoria 1 /
5.
Goalies-
Lethbridge,
Skinner 19-7-0-0 (41 shots-39 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 21-12-0-2 (17 shots-16 saves).
A-6,245
Referees-Kevin Bennett (29), Adam Griffiths (36).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Riley Friesen (76).
