VICTORIA 2
VANCOUVER 0
听
The Victoria Royals closed out their 2016-17 Western Hockey League pre-season with a 2-0 win over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre.
Ty Westgard and Ethan Price provided the goals, and Griffen Outhouse stopped all 23 shots he faced as the Royals conclude the exhibition campaign with a 5-1 record and now prepare for their regular season home-opener on Friday at 7:05 p.m. as the Prince George Cougars visit Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Westgard opened the scoring on a deflection of Brayden Pachal鈥檚 shot with just 12 seconds to go in the first period after Price had a shot go off the goal post on a breakaway earlier in the stanza.
Scott Walford also hit the post on a third-period power play for the Royals before Price beat Giants goaltender Ryan Kubic up high with just under three minutes to go in the third period of a quick 123-minute game.
Both the Royals and Giants went with 16 skaters on Saturday, 10 forwards and six defencemen, as clubs have players away at NHL camps.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to happen for the next two weeks,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry. 鈥淚 thought our guys played hard and we did a lot of good things. When you鈥檙e short bodies and guys step up, that鈥檚 what you want to see at this time of the year.鈥�
It was the third straight meeting between the two clubs as the Royals won 2-1 in a shootout the previous Saturday before recording a 4-1 victory a week ago today in Ladner.
鈥淟et鈥檚 get used to it because we do it three or four times this year,鈥� Lowry said with a chuckle.
He also was delighted with Outhouse鈥檚 performance.
鈥淕riffen made saves. The one thing we did today, we didn鈥檛 allow a lot of quality chances, but when we needed him, he was ready,鈥� said Lowry.
The Giants had eight players off to pro camps while the Royals have five (six if you include Joe Hicketts, who is not expected to return to junior). The Red Deer Rebels have the most players away with 12, ahead of Kelowna and Calgary, with 10 each.
Those factors have affected all WHL teams.
The Giants had dressed only 15 skaters (including just five defencemen) in Friday鈥檚 5-4 win in Kelowna, three under the maximum. The Rockets had dressed only 14 skaters to go with two netminders, as all teams are in similar predicaments.
鈥淲e looked like a team that went to bed at 4 a.m.,鈥� Giants assistant coach Tyler Kuntz told the TSN 1410 broadcast crew after the opening 20 minutes of Saturday鈥檚 game, which was played in the Giants鈥� new home in Langley.
鈥淚t was a good atmosphere. I think it鈥檚 going to be a real good venue. When you get fans in there, it鈥檚 a real tight rink and it鈥檒l be a good place to play,鈥� Lowry said.
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