It began as a topsy-turvy Friday in hockey with a Germany-Canada scoreline you would expect in soccer but not on the ice.
It concluded with things back to normal with another in a line of emotive Western Hockey League battles between the Victoria Royals and Portland Winterhawks since 2011-12.
Portland, big and looking almost like a pro team, defeated the Royals 2-1.
“Those were two good teams going at it,” said Victoria captain Matthew Phillips.
“We could have strung together more consistent play, but we battled. That’s a good team over there. In fact, these are two deep teams. Give them credit. Portland’s defence did a good job.”
The ’Hawks offensive thrust wasn’t lacking, either.
Portland held a 26-16 shots advantage but nothing to show for it until Alex Overhardt finally solved Victoria goaltender Griffen Outhouse at 13:43 of the second period.
Kieffer Bellows, assistant captain of the bronze-medallist and host American team in the 2018 world junior championships, ripped home a laser to the far side to make it 2-0 at 18:44 with his 30th goal of the season eventually being the winner. The first-round draft pick of the New York Islanders is a rare three-time performer for the U.S. at the world juniors, with a gold and two bronze medals, and is the son of former NHLer Brian Bellows. It appears he has inherited something from those genes.
Fourth-round San Jose Sharks draft-pick Noah Gregor finally got Victoria on the board on the power play at 18:10 of the third period, with Outhouse pulled for a two-man advantage, but the Royals could not find the equalizer.
“It was intense, especially in the third period, with both teams going for it,” said Royals coach Dan Price.
“Portland was good in its own end and made it tough for us to get to the net. We just about got it done but ran out of time.”
Phillips picked up an assist on the goal to become the first Royals player to reach 100 points in a season since the franchise has played on the Island since 2011-12 and is now just one point behind the all-time Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals record of 101.
“It’s pretty cool because it’s not something that happens every day,” said Phllips, of reaching the century plateau.
The three stars were Bellows, blue-liner Henri Jokiharju of Portland and Phillips. A case could also have been made for Outhouse, who made 35 saves, to 29 by Shane Farkas of Portland.
Bellows and Jokiharju are among the four Winterhawks who are first-round NHL draft picks on the potent roster, along with forward Cody Glass and defenceman Dennis Cholowski.
Portland (36-20-4), which also features six-foot-five blue-line standout Brendan De Jong from Victoria, is second in the American Division and Victoria (35-22-5) second in the B.C. Division. The Winterhawks lead the season series 2-1.
There were a large number of Portland fans among the crowd of 5,527, continuing a tradition that stretches back to the old Memorial Arena, when busloads of Winterhawks fans used to come up for games against the Victoria Cougars.
The teams conclude their four-game season series tonight at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
