Yeah, Matt Keetley looks to be in shape. And then some.

The Victoria Salmon Kings netminder, sent from Abbotsford of the AHL on a conditioning stint, made two monumental glove saves in the late going to preserve his shutout and a 2-0 ECHL victory over the Ontario Reign of Southern California.

The second was absolutely outrageous and earned Keetley a standing ovation last night from the crowd of 3,922 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

“It was the biggest save I’ve made in my career as far as timing in a game goes,” said Keetley.

That’s saying something, considering he played in the 2007 Memorial Cup national junior championship game for his hometown Medicine Hat Tigers and was named WHL playoffs MVP along the way.

“I haven’t played in a month and was trying to keep it simple,” added the Calgary Flames draft pick.

But those two saves,

particulary the second of the pair, were anything but simplistic.

“It was a back-door slide across [to Reign forward Tony Voce] and I reached back and felt it in my glove. I think he [Voce] thought he had a goal. He came up to me afterwards and said it was a great save.”

Reign goaltender Curtis Darling, outstanding last weekend in two consecutive victories over Victoria and one against Alaska with a 1.34 goals-against average over the three games, was named ECHL goaltender of the week.

But it was Keetley who stole the crease show on this night with his 35 saves to Darling’s 21.

Keetley doesn’t know how long his Victoria stint will be — either he or David Shantz will end up with the Salmon Kings in a three-way triangle being played out in the Abbotsford AHL crease — but he sure enjoyed his first night with the S-Kings.

“You never know in this business — and you have to be a little selfish too in wanting the [AHL] job for yourself — and it’s often one game at a time,” said Keetley.

“But this Salmon Kings group of guys has just been phenomenal to me and have treated me awesomely. It’s hard to believe they are 2-9. The bounces obviously haven’t gone right for them so far. They did all the right things in front of me tonight. It was exciting. The fans were great and I wanted to give them a good effort.”

That he did.

“Matt was huge,” said newly-acquired AHL veteran defenceman Jimmy Sharrow, also playing his first game.

“Say he lets in those couple of goals, then the whole bench would slump down a bit. But he kept us in it. The whole team, in fact: No way it should be 2-9 from what I saw tonight.”

Victoria won it through Keetley, and a couple of game aspects that have been as rare this Salmon Kings season as fall sunshine in Victoria.

The miserable power play, a league second-worst five-for-55 heading into the contest, finally clicked in the first period with a goal by Dirk Southern at 8:10.

Victoria has also been unable to get the kind of greasy, ugly goals that tend to win games. They got one of those, too, by Andy Brandt at 3:41 of the second period.

The Salmon Kings and Reign (6-7), farm team of the Los Angeles Kings,

continue their three-game set tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Centre.