The undersized but water-bug-quick forward scored a hat-trick as he returned to his hometown to lead his Victoria Royals to a 7-2 Western Hockey League victory over the Calgary Hitmen.
Playing in front of a large section of friends and family, among the crowd of 7,243 at Scotiabank Saddledome, Phillips pushed his Royals-leading goals total to 35 on the season. The 2015-16 WHL rookie of the year added an assist and now has a team-leading 59 points. If the road home angle Friday wasn’t glaring enough, Phillips is also an NHL draft pick of the Calgary Flames.
It was Phillips’ second hat-trick in as many nights as the diminutive sniper also scored three times in Thursday’s 6-3 Royals victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton.
Russian import and Maple Leafs draft pick Vladimir Bobylev added a goal for Victoria on a four-point night in Calgary.
Tyler Soy had three assists for Victoria.
“When we get pucks into areas, like we have been doing, we do well,” said Royals coach Dave Lowry.
“[Phillips] has been the beneficiary . . . [Soy] has been doing a good job of distributing the puck . . . and Matthew plays with such [finishing] skill.”
Regan Nagy and rearguard Ralph Jarratt also scored for Victoria. Royals blue-liner Chaz Reddekopp continued his strong play, on both sides of the puck, with a goal and assist and plus-5 rating.
Griffen Outhouse made 25 saves in the Royals crease, while Kyle Dumba and Trevor Martin combined to block 24 shots for the Hitmen (17-21-6).
A season in any sport is usually one of swings. But the Royals (26-18-4) have taken that notion to ridiculous places since the Christmas break, following a five-game winning streak by a three-game losing skid and now a four-game victory run.
The Royals’ are in Red Deer tonight to play the a Rebels (20-20-7) team that lost at home to the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night.
The Royals road trip then continues next Friday in Langley against the Vancouver Giants.
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