Recap: EVTT 4 - VIC 6 (Mon, Feb.8.2016)

Jack Walker had a natural hat trick and a 4 point night, as the Victoria Royals (35-15-2-3, 75pts) came from behind to defeat the visiting Everett Silvertips 6-4 Monday afternoon.

“It was a team effort,” said Royals Head Coach Dave Lowry,

After holding leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the middle frame on a pair of goals by Tyler Soy, Victoria found themselves down 3-2 heading to the third.

Matthew Phillips and Noah Juulsen exchanged goals before Walker scored three unanswered to put the game out of reach, snapping Everett’s 3 game win streak.

“In the third period we played the way we have to play to win.”  Said Lowry,

“We got better at managing the puck, better at attacking, and better at going to the net.  For forty minutes we had too many turnovers, played a lot of hockey in our zone, and we didn’t make it really hard on their defense to move pucks through.”

With points in 12 straight games (11-0-1-0), the Royals move into sole possession of 2^nd in the WHL, and continue to set the franchise record for wins in a row with 9.

“If you have that belief in your room that you can win every night – it’s a great feeling,” said Lowry when asked about the confidence of his group,

“It’s something we’ve worked to create, and our guys are working to make sure that the feeling doesn’t leave.”

Victoria moves 7 up on Everett (32-17-2-2, 68pts), and will meet in the US this Saturday.

Vladimir Bobylev chipped in with a pair of assists, as did did Soy who ended with 4 points.  Soy now has 29 goals, one more than last years career high.

Phillips scored on a breakaway sniping it top corner, shooting the puck while it was rolling.

“Surgeon hands…” quipped Lowry when asked on Phillips ability to finish.

“It’s indicative of his skill set, and he always finds a way to get the shot off…he doesn’t need to find a lot of space to find a hole – and he’s usually good at hitting it.”

Phillips had a goal and an assist to move into sole possession of the rookie scoring lead, two ahead of Lethbridge’s Egor Babenko.  He also leads all rookies with 31 goals, which is one off of tying the franchise record held by Oscar Moller.

The line of Walker, Soy and Bobylev combined for 10 points.  Walker now has 22 goals on the year, and 54 points in 55 games. 

Victoria struck twice on the power play on 5 chances, while Everett went 1 for 3.  The Royals out shot the Tips 32-23.  Griffen Outhouse earned the win, while Carter Hart took the loss.

The Silvertips’ got their other goals from Carson Stadnyk, Connor Dewar, and Brycen Martin.

In a battle of the two stingiest teams in the league, a total of 10 goals were scored, all in the final 40 minutes of the game.

“I give them credit, they capitalized on their opportunities,” said Lowry,

“I don’t know if we get enough credit for it, but we can score goals.”

It was the Royals 4^th come from behind win when trailing after 2 periods.

“We put a lot of work in early in the year on our conditioning so we can find an extra gear as games, and the season goes on.”  According to Lowry,

“These guys believe that they have an opportunity to win every night – and we’ve been able to find a way.”

Victoria wraps up 4 games in 5 nights Tuesday as they entertain Edmonton, who fell 1-0 in Vancouver Monday.

- Marlon Martens

Everett Silvertips 4 at Victoria Royals 6 - Status: Final
Monday, February 8, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Everett 0 3 1 - 4
Victoria 0 2 4 - 6

1st Period-

No Scoring.

Penalties-Fisher Vic (holding), 6:36; Walker Vic (charging), 11:44.

2nd Period-

1, Victoria, Soy 28 (Walker, Phillips), 2:42 (PP).

2, Everett, Stadnyk 14 (Laurencelle, Juulsen), 9:05.

3, Victoria, Soy 29 (Bobylev), 10:20.

4, Everett, Dewar 9 (Stadnyk), 10:41.

5, Everett, Martin 5 (King, Pfeifer), 14:24.

Penalties-Pfeifer Evt (tripping), 1:38; MacDonald Evt (tripping), 2:25; Winkler Evt (boarding), 10:53; Winkler Evt (inter. on goaltender), 15:04.

3rd Period-

6, Victoria, Phillips 31 (Hannoun), 1:52.

7, Everett, Juulsen 5 (Bajkov, Fonteyne), 9:57 (PP).

8, Victoria, Walker 20 (Bobylev, Soy), 13:25.

9, Victoria, Walker 21 (Forsberg, Soy), 15:49 (PP).

10, Victoria, Walker 22 (Fisher), 18:42.

Penalties-Gagnon Vic (interference), 9:03; MacDonald Evt (tripping), 14:56.

Shots on Goal-

Everett 7-9-7-23.

Victoria 8-15-9-32.

Power Play Opportunities-

Everett 1 / 3;

Victoria 2 / 5.

Goalies-

Everett, Hart 31-16-1-2 (32 shots-26 saves).

Victoria, Outhouse 12-3-2-1 (23 shots-19 saves).

A-5,197
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Steve Papp (17).
Linesmen-Curtis Craig (144), Riley Friesen (76).