VICTORIA 4
CALGARY 1
On the designated Super weekend, the Victoria Royals were less than Super anything. But they still got the two points.
The sign of a good team is that it wins even when playing poorly. That could be a very scary thing for other WHL teams to contemplate as they look to see what is stirring on the Island.
The Royals (30-19-4) won their fourth consecutive game, and eighth in their last nine, with a 4-1 decision over the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday night before 6,448 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
But the post-game vibe was more wary than celebratory as the season’s 30th win was far less than satisfactory.
“We got away with one tonight,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
“It was not one of our better games. We made lots of mistakes. We were fortunate that we were good early [in building a 3-0 first-period lead].”
Victoria goaltender Griffen Outhouse was a factor in a 30-save performance, only losing his shutout bid when Jake Kryski scored at 17:27 of the third period for Calgary. “We shouldn’t have to rely on [Outhouse],” said Lowry.
“We have to tighten up if we want to be successful.”
Perhaps the key moment of the game came just 4:13 in with defenceman Chaz Reddekopp scoring short-handed off a deft assist from Tyler Soy. It was the 10th goal of the season for the L.A. Kings blue-line prospect.
“The goal for me this season was to play a 200-foot game,” Reddekopp said of reaching double digits in goals.
Soy’s assist extended his points streak to nine games. The Anaheim Ducks draft pick has seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in that stretch.
That was followed by opening-period Victoria goals by Dante Hannoun and Carter Folk. Jack Walker salted it away with an empty-net goal late in the third. But it wasn’t quite as clean a win as the Royals would have wanted.
“We had a good start then took our foot off the gas pedal. But we weathered the storm,” said Reddekopp. Victoria put 26 shots on Trevor Martin and Kyle Dumba. But Outhouse was busier, which is a concern.
“It definitely wasn’t our best game. But all that matters is we got the two points. We’ll take the freebie and keep going,” said Outhouse.
The Hitmen, fighting for a wildcard playoff place, are 19-24-9. Dynamic blue-liner Jake Bean of Calgary had an assist Saturday and showed in so many other ways why he was a 2017 world junior silver-medallist for Canada and why the Carolina Hurricanes selected him 13th overall in the first round of the 2016 NHL draft.
Saturday was Calgary’s lone appearance on Blanshard Street. Too bad for Royals supporters. Victoria is 7-0-1 in its last eight games against the Hitmen and has outscored Calgary 41-18 in that span dating to the 2012-13 season.
The Royals host Seattle on Tuesday and Wednesday.
