VICTORIA 5
MEDICINE HAT 1
It was almost the perfect road game.
The Victoria Royals took advantage of power-play opportunities, scoring from veterans, solid work from its youngsters, stellar netminding from Griffen Outhouse and timely penalty killing in recording a 5-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers in Western Hockey League play on Tuesday.
Matthew Phillips scored at 2:51 of the third period to make it 3-1 and Tyler Soy added even more insurance at 15:14 as the offensive stars produced, as they are expected. Jack Walker assisted on both those markers.
Jared Dmytriw added one for good measure into an empty-net with 1:59 to go as he scored in his second-straight game as Victoria evens its record to 4-4.
“We had a really good first period and a really good third. We’re getting better and it was a good team effort tonight,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry, whose troops continue their road trip in Lethbridge tonight before moving on to Edmonton on Friday.
“We had four lines that played tonight and for us to have success we’re going to need four lines, six defencemen and our goalie to be good.”
It took the Royals just 25 seconds into a lengthy 5-on-3 situation to get on the scoreboard as Dante Hannoun finally collected his first of his season on assists to Soy and Chaz Reddekopp at 11:22 of the opening period.
They failed to cash in on a second 5-on-3 early in the second, but recorded plenty of good chances before Blake Bargar made it 2-0 exactly six minutes into the middle stanza with Ethan Price and Ryan Gagnon recording assists.
Bargar, an 18-year-old out of Torrance, California, has two goals on the season.
Max Gerlach got one back for the Tigers on their second power play of the game 16:23 into the second period. Victoria did manage to kill off key penalties — one in the final two minutes of the period and one to start the third.
“Especially after giving up a [power-play] goal and having to start the third short-handed, we did a good job. They didn’t generate a lot and we were able to take control of the game,” Lowry said of the turning point of the matchup.
Phillips, Soy and Dmytriw then helped the Royals record their third win on four tries on this six-game road adventure.
Outhouse made 40 saves, including all 19 shots he faced in the third period as the Royals collected team win No. 200 since moving to Victoria from Chilliwack. Nick Schneider stopped 36 for the now 5-3 Tigers.
ICE CHIPS: Gagnon was injured late in the game when he was hit by a shot as he was falling. … Victoria product Tyler Preziuso, a five-foot-11, 175-pound winger, plays with the Tigers and has one assist in eight games. He was a third-round bantam draft pick for Medicine Hat in 2014 and has a C rating for the 2017 NHL draft.
