Tyler Soy scored twice, while Joe Hicketts and Vladimir
Bobylev had 3 points each to lead the Victoria Royals past the visiting Spokane
Chiefs 5-3 Friday and take game 1 of the opening round of the playoffs.
“We knew it was going to be a hard fought game, and that’s
exactly what they brought.” said Soy,
“It was very muck and grind style of game…there’s a lot
of physical play…”
Victoria held
period leads of 1-0 and 2-1, however tied at 2 in the third, the Royals scored
three straight to pull away.
“It’s playoff hockey, I think that’s what we expected,” said
Head Coach Dave Lowry, on the physical affair, with punishing hits thrown by
both clubs throughout the entire contest.
“We expected a hard fought game, they’re going to be
heavy and hard and they’re going to go right to the end.”
It was a much more closely contested affair, than the 31
point swing in the standings would indicate.
“We talked all that playoff hockey changes, there’s a
price to pay, you have to fight for your space and every check gets finished.” According
to Lowry,
“The teams that do it consistently are the ones that find
themselves on the right side.”
Ryan Gagnon was given a charging major and a game
misconduct, and with Regan Nagy in the box for a roughing call, the Chiefs had
a 5 on 3 for 3:19 in the final few
minutes of the second.
The Royals penalty killing efforts brought the fans to their
feet, closing out the middle frame.
“I thought we did a good job of getting through that 5 on
3,” said Lowry,
“Guys were paying the price, sacrificing and getting in
lanes, and that’s what you have to do at this time of year. It has to hurt to win and think tonight was
indicative of that.”
However, Spokane’s
Hudson Elynuik struck on the remaining seconds of the power play early in the
third to tie the game at 2.
The Royals outshot the Chiefs 31-27 with Coleman Vollrath
earning the win, and Lasse Petersen taking the loss.
Both clubs struck once with the man advantage, Victoria
was 1 for 3, Spokane 1 for 5.
Tyler Soy scored a highlight reel goal to open the scoring, going
through Evan Fiala down the right wing, then kicked the puck to his stick while
cutting to the front of the net, and lifted it over the glove of Peteresen.
Keanu Yamamoto had a goal and an assist, and tied the game
at one in the middle frame.
Joe Hicketts blast from the point gave the home side the 2-1
lead going into the 3rd period.
Logan Fisher tipped a Hicketts point drive to give Victoria
their first 2 goal lead, 3-2. Dante
Hannoun ripped home the eventual winner with the man advantage after a great
cross ice feed by Hicketts for a 4-2 lead.
Soy added his second of the night into an empty net with 2:30 to go in the third.
Hayden Ostir gave the Chiefs their 3rd goal with
under a minute to go in the game.
Bobylev had 3 assists, while Hicketts a goal and two
helpers.
Game 2 goes in Victoria
Saturday night, with puck drop at 7:05.
- Marlon Martens
3 Stars:
1. VIC - 2 Joe Hicketts
2. SPO - 9 Keanu Yamamoto
3. VIC - 23 Vladimir Bobylev
2. SPO - 9 Keanu Yamamoto
3. VIC - 23 Vladimir Bobylev
Attendance: 6211
Spokane Chiefs 3
at Victoria Royals 5 - Status:
Final
Friday, March 25, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Spokane 0 1 2 - 3
Victoria 1 1 3 - 5
1st Period-
Friday, March 25, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Spokane 0 1 2 - 3
Victoria 1 1 3 - 5
1st Period-
1, Victoria,
Soy 1 (Bobylev, Gagnon), 14:51.
Penalties-Gagnon Vic (boarding), 7:47; Helgesen Spo (tripping), 9:12; Walford Vic (interference), 12:29.
2nd Period-
2nd Period-
2, Spokane, Ke.
Yamamoto 1 (McIndoe), 5:24.
3, Victoria, Hicketts 1 (Bobylev, Walker), 9:16.
Penalties-Gagnon Vic (major-charging, game misconduct), 16:02; Nagy Vic (roughing), 17:43.
3rd Period-
3rd Period-
4, Spokane,
Elynuik 1 (Ke. Yamamoto, Fram), 0:44 (PP).
5, Victoria, Fisher 1 (Hicketts, Dmytriw), 5:58.
6, Victoria, Hannoun 1 (Hicketts, Walford), 11:59 (PP).
7, Victoria,
Soy 2 (Bobylev, Price), 17:30 (EN).
8, Spokane,
Ostir 1 (Henderson, Miske), 19:07.
Penalties-Fiala Spo (high sticking, high sticking), 9:12; Elynuik Spo (slashing), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-
Shots on Goal-
Spokane
8-6-13-27.
Victoria
7-10-14-31.
Power Play Opportunities-
Spokane 1 / 5;
Victoria 1 /
3.
Goalies-
Spokane,
Petersen 0-1-0-0 (30 shots-26 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 1-0-0-0 (27 shots-24 saves).
A-6,211
Referees-Kevin Bennett (29), Mike Campbell (89).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).
Series Schedule:
Saturday, March 26th – Spokane
@ Victoria – 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday, March 29th – Victoria
@ Spokane – 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday, March 30th – Victoria
@ Spokane – 7:05 p.m.
Friday, April 1st – Spokane
@ Victoria – 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)
Sunday, April 3rd – Victoria
@ Spokane – 5:05 p.m. (if necessary)
Tuesday, April 5th – Spokane
@ Victoria – 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)
