VICTORIA 3 VANCOUVER 2
If Victoria's opening weekend in the Western Hockey League was a poker game, it would be a Royal Flush.
"This is a hockey town and I'm happy to be here," said Czech rookie import and Victoria starting goaltender Patrik Polivka, after the Royals defeated the Vancouver Giants 3-2 Saturday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to debut 2-0 on the season.
The 16 returning Royals especially are enjoying the moment after a seventhplace finish last season in the Western Conference.
"It's fun to be in the Barn on Blanshard on a night like this," said second-year forward Logan Nelson, the Buffalo Sabres draft pick who finished the night with two assists.
"It's something special for sure to get two straight wins. It didn't happen a lot last year."
Polivka wasn't overly taxed in the first two periods but had to be sharp in the third in making 21 saves for the victory.
His bid for the shutout was ended by Nathan Burns at 10: 42 of the third period.
Vancouver pressed hard in that final frame, counting again from Cain Franson with 26 seconds remaining, but it wasn't enough as the game ended with Victoria forward Brandon Magee sliding out to block a David Musil shot with his head.
"We need to work on the third periods. They [Giants] have been better in the third periods than us [including in Victoria's opening 6-4 victory Friday night in Vancouver]. But we won, that's it," said Polivka.
Nelson concurred that the Royals will need to find a way to close out better.
"That's something we need to work on in the long run," said the native of Rogers, Minnesota.
"We're still working out some kinks."
Victoria head coach Dave Lowry is a bottomline guy.
"You have to look at the end result and that was that we found a way to win a hockey game," he said.
"We battled hard out there and that was a pretty solid game. We will learn to play with the lead. That's part of the process."
Victoria second-year forward Ben Walker is known more for his flashpoint quickness but he's also demonstrating a certain dogged toughness. That was on display in the first period when he stayed with the puck in the crease to bang it in at 7: 15.
"I got really lucky to get to that rebound and we were fortunate to get the first goal and that got us off to a good start," he said.
"It was real nice to get two wins in a row to start. We have a lot of quick, skilled guys."
Walker's goal held until Magee gave the Royals a two-goal lead with a darting break down the right side at 11: 15 of the second period on the power play. Then, Russian import forward Alex Gogolov took a two-on-one feed from Nelson to make it 3-0 at 12: 31.
The Royals finished with 25 shots on Giants goaltender Liam Liston.
"It was nice to have the crowd behind us tonight," said Walker, a native of Edina, Minnesota.
"It's always fun to play in front of a big crowd like that."
Victoria hosts the Kamloops Blazers, considered by most the class of the sa国际传媒 Division and one of the best teams in the Western Conference and the league, on Friday night and next Sunday in a matin脙漏e at the Memorial Centre.
