VICTORIA 5 VANCOUVER 4 (SO)
There is no analogous tradition in hockey of handing out a game puck that corresponds with the awarding of a game ball in football.
If there was, the Victoria Royals would have had to saw the rubber disc in half Friday evening and share it between goaltenders Jared Rathjen and Coleman Vollrath. Well, maybe twothirds of the puck to Vollrath and a third to Rathjen.
It was raining pucks on them in Ladner as the Vancouver Giants outshot the Royals 45-15 but Victoria came away with a 5-4 shootout victory in Western Hockey League pre-season action.
The rookie Vollrath was the better of the Victoria goaltending tandem in parrying 24 of 25 shots in allowing one goal in 34 minutes and 54 seconds of action in regulation and overtime. He also blocked nine of 11 Vancouver attempts in the marathon shootout.
The veteran Rathjen, who started, made 17 saves on 20 shots in 30: 06 of regulation play.
"I expect our goalies to play, and play well, and give us a chance in any game," said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
"I'm not going to get caught up in shots on goal. If it happens consistently, I'd have some concerns. But we did a lot of little things right tonight. I like the way we competed and pushed back when we got behind [Vancouver took a 3-1 lead in the second period]. We found a way to win a hockey game. At the end of the day, we did a lot of things well to accomplish that."
Lowry also cited special teams, and rightfully so, as Victoria went two-for-three on the power play, while holding Vancouver to just one goal on the Giants' six chances.
Victoria got goals in the shootout from defencemen Joe Hicketts, a highlylauded rookie who can move the puck, and Brett Cote, an understated stay-at-home veteran blue-liner, as Lowry had to look far down his bench as Cote was the unlikely hero in deciding matters in the 11th round.
Forward Mitch Deacon had scored earlier as Victoria took the shootout 3-2.
Nathan Burns and Thomas Foster were the only Vancouver players to outwit Vollrath in the shootout.
The Royals' goals in regulation time came from veteran forwards Austin Carroll, Ben Walker, Brandon Magee and Luke Harrison.
Vancouver veteran Cain Franson's fourth goal of the exhibition campaign, the lone counter of the chippy third period, tied the game 4-4 at 8: 36 on the power play.
That third period deteriorated with two fights and five game misconducts.
The overtime period was scoreless.
The Royals (3-2 and the winners of three consecutive pre-season games) close out the exhibition season with a matinee today at 2 p.m. against the Giants (1-2-2) at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
These clubs, who will get to know each other well, also open the regular season battling each other next Friday at the PNE Pacific Coliseum, before a return match the following night at the Memorial Centre.
ICE CHIPS: Admission to today's matinee is $5, with Raise-a-Reader receiving $1 from each ticket sold. Raise-a-Reader volunteers will also be canvassing the rink selling 50/50 tickets at today's game.
