VICTORIA 5
REGINA 0
He may be Darryl Sittler’s second cousin, but he models his game after Carey Price. Which only makes sense for a goaltender.
Call-up player Jayden Sittler recorded the shutout with a 33-save performance as the Victoria Royals defeated the Regina Pats 5-0 in a Western Hockey League game Saturday night before 6,049 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
“It feels great . . . really special [to get the clean sheet],” said Sittler, who has appeared in six games since Evan Smith went down with an injury.
Sittler won his second consecutive game, following up on Friday’s 3-1 victory over the CHL top-10 ranked Everett Silvertips, while the usual starter Coleman Vollrath watched from the bench. Sittler is on the team only ecause the Royals’ normal backup, Smith, the six-foot-six American who has been listed by Central Scouting as a player to watch for in the 2015 NHL draft, is on the injury list for at least another week.
Three’s Company may be fine for cheesy 1970s sitcoms. But not so in the crease for hockey teams, which usually carry two goalies. Sittler, of course, wants to stick in the WHL and with the Royals.
“I’m definitely trying to push for that spot and hopefully I earn it,” said the call-up from the Alberta Junior League.
“I have to take advantage of the opportunities whenever I get them.”
Regarding the crease, Royals coach Dave Lowry preferred to stay in the moment and not look ahead.
“[Sittler] gave us a chance to win tonight,” he said.
“We’re not in a hurry,” added Lowry, when pressed about the goaltending situation.
Meanwhile, never send a boy to do a man’s job. The Pats started 15-year-old Jordan Hollett, their first pick in the 2014 bantam draft, in goal against the Royals and he made 21 saves. The six-foot-three Langley product, remarkably poised for his age, looks to be an elite crease prospect for the future and is the first goaltender the Pats have ever selected in the first round of the bantam draft. But on Saturday, he was facing players up to five years older.
The victory moved the Royals to 14-11-2 and ended Regina’s five-game winning streak. The Pats, who came into the game having won eight of their last nine games, fell to 13-10-1.
The Royals got two goals, including the eighth on the power play, from lurking blueliner Travis Brown, who now has nine on the season. His second goal of the night was his first at even strength this season.
“It felt good to get that one,” he said.
“I felt tonight we stuck to our systems as a team.”
Other goals came from Taylor Crunk, Jared Dmytriw and Calgary Flames-prospect Austin Carroll, with his 17th of the season. Logan Fisher and Regan Nagy had two assists each.
The Royals cross the border for games Tuesday in Portland against the Winterhawks and Wednesday in Spokane against the Chiefs. Both games reprise last spring’s playoffs. Victoria swept Spokane in the first round before losing a contentious five-game second-round series to Portland.
ICE CHIPS: It was Armed Forces Appreciation Night with the Royals sporting third jerseys, featuring the logo of the Royal Canadian Navy Submarine Fleet, that will be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Military Family Resources Centre. Info: victoriaroyals. com/jerseyauctions.
