VICTORIA 4
CALGARY 1
The Victoria Royals’ goaltending situation, which has experienced volatility this season, is now settled with Justin Paulic and Coleman Vollrath the two players who will bring it home down the stretch after Evan Smith and Jayden Sittler also received time this season in the crease.
Paulic turned in a 20-save victory Saturday night as the Royals defeated the host Calgary Hitmen 4-1 before 8,741 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome for Victoria’s fourth consecutive victory.
It was Paulic’s second win in as many starts for the Royals (24-19-3) since being acquired in a trade last week from the Moose Jaw Warriors. It came a day after Vollrath’s standout performance in Victoria’s 2-1 shootout victory Friday in Red Deer that halted the Rebels’ five-game winning streak.
“Two nights in a row, our goalies have given us a chance to win and were the difference,” said Victoria head coach Dave Lowry.
“[Paulic] played very well tonight. He didn’t give up much [rebounds],” Lowry added, after Saturday’s contest. “He has the experience [this is 19-year-old Paulic’s third season in the WHL] and that’s why we brought him in.”
The game was tight heading into the third period, with Victoria and Canadian world junior championship gold-medallist defenceman Joe Hicketts’ power-play counter providing the only goal over the first two periods.
Austin Carroll’s power-play goal at 30 seconds of the third period tipped the scales in Victoria’s favour and stood as the winner.
Ben Thomas pulled the Hitmen (23-17-5) to within one at 11:30 of the third, but Carroll responded with his second goal of the night and 28th of the season, just 14 seconds later. It couldn’t have happened in a better locale for 20-year-old Carroll, who is an NHL draft pick of the Calgary Flames, who play in the same building as the junior Hitmen.
“[Carroll] was skating [hard] tonight. And when he skates in a straight line, he is a good player,” said Lowry.
Jack Walker capped it for Victoria, as Brandon Magee picked up his third assist of the night, on the empty-net goal. Victoria’s slithery Travis Brown, who leads the WHL in points by defencemen, picked up two assists. The Royals put 30 shots on Hitmen goaltender Brendan Burke.
“I thought it was our best performance of the season,” said Lowry. “We took over in the third period.”
It was also one of the least penalized games of the WHL season, clocking in at a tidy two hours and seven minutes, with Victoria gunning two-for-two in its only power-play chances while the Hitmen were held at bay in their lone odd-man opportunity.
The Royals conclude their Alberta swing today in Edmonton against the defending WHL and Memorial Cup champion Oil Kings (22-18-5) before returning to Blanshard to meet the Kamloops Blazers next Friday and Saturday.
