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Victoria Royals leave it late for victory over Red Deer

VICTORIA 3 RED DEER 1 Victoria Royals captain Phillip Schultz began the game on the blueline and ended it as a forward.
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Victoria Royals' Kaid Oliver gets in close on Red Deer Rebels goaltender Ethan Anders in WHL action at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Tuesday.

VICTORIA 3
RED DEER 1


Victoria Royals captain Phillip Schultz began the game on the blueline and ended it as a forward. Good thing, too, for the Royals as the Danish international’s two third-period goals helped rescue Victoria in a 3-1 WHL victory Tuesday over the Red Deer Rebels at the Memorial Centre.

Kaid Oliver got the insurance, on an assist by NHL first-round draft pick Brayden Tracey, as Victoria scored three unanswered goals in the final 9:02.

The game had “trap door” written all over it for the Royals. They more than obliged for two and one-half periods by yanking it open and almost falling right through. Victoria, missing the jump and energy displayed in two emotional weekend home victories over the division-rival Kamloops Blazers, were outplayed by Red Deer until the final nine minutes.

Goaltender Adam Evanoff was the hero of the piece for the hosts Tuesday with a 37-save performance.

Red Deer took the lead through a Ben King power-play goal at 14:55 of the second period.

It wasn’t until 10:58 of the third period that Victoria got on the board on a swooping move to the net by Schultz.

The 19-year-old Dane then converted a behind-the-net pass from Gary Haden at 15:36. Haden had two assists.

The Royals (29-18-5) won their fourth consecutive game, and earned points in the fifth straight, and are five points behind the B.C. Division-leading Blazers.

The Rebels are 18-29-5 and well adrift of a playoff berth in the Central Division.

The crease situation was again a storyline for Victoria with WHL January goaltender of the month Shane Farkas sitting out his seventh consecutive game.

Farkas has been downgraded from day-to-day to now week-to-week with an upper-body issue.

Fellow Penticton product Evanoff has been carrying the crease load for Victoria in Farkas’s absence. Backing up Evanoff was affiliated call-up Keegan Maddocks.

With 20-year-old defenceman Will Warm still out of the line-up, Schultz has split his time between the blueline and up front.

The 19-year-old, who has played in three world junior tournaments for Denmark, is a natural forward but has displayed his versatility in the absence of Warm, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Tarun Fizer, one of Victoria’s best forwards, needed help getting off the ice in the second period with a leg injury.

Ironically, Fizer’s injury was the reason Schultz returned to the forward ranks for the third period, something that would prove decisive to the outcome.

Tuesday’s game had an added dimension for Victoria players and former Rebels Brandon Cutler and Jacob Herauf.

The Royals embark on a three-game road trip beginning Friday in Langley against the Vancouver Giants.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com