VICTORIA聽 3
EVERETT聽 0
It is about as 鈥渓ocal鈥� as a road trip gets for the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League. Yet even though it isn鈥檛 one of those prairie tire-busters, Victoria began a four-game swing Saturday night knowing it was destined to truly stress its winning steak.
It began in Everett, Washington, against the Silvertips and Carter Hart, the top-ranked North American goaltender for the 2016 NHL draft. But that didn鈥檛 stop the Royals from extending their franchise-record victory run to 11 consecutive games with a 3-0 victory before 7,150 fans.
鈥淲e stay in the present and don鈥檛 talk about the number of wins,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淲e want to play a certain way every night and the guys have been doing that. We are getting contributions from everyone.鈥�
Hart may have the credentials, but it was rookie Victoria goaltender Griffen Outhouse who recorded the 28-save blank sheet for his fourth shutout of the season.
鈥淲e鈥檙e getting timely saves from whoever we put in the net [Outhouse or veteran Coleman Vollrath],鈥� said Lowry.
Victoria (37-15-5) now has a points-earned run of 14 straight games to tie the franchise record.
Saturday鈥檚 game was scoreless until Jack Walker of the Royals scored on the power play at 11:21 of the second period. Tyler Soy, on an assist from Vladimir Bobylev, pushed that to a two-goal advantage at 17:03, then Soy put the game on ice with an empty-net goal with two seconds remaining in the third period. The Royals put 35 shots on Hart in a performance that was emphatic both offensively and defensively.
The Royals鈥� version of Mad Max I-5 Fury Road continues today in Seattle against a strapping Thunderbirds team that seems built for the post-season, Monday in Portland against the Winterhawks and concludes Wednesday in Vancouver against the Giants. 鈥淓very weekend is a test for us, regardless of opponent,鈥� said Lowry.
Saturday鈥檚 was the second game in less than a week between the Royals and Silvertips. On Monday, Victoria rallied from a 4-3 third-period deficit to beat Everett 6-4 on three goals by Walker in the final seven minutes. The entire line has been putting up points like Adele does hits. Bobylev has three goals and eight points in his last five games while Soy has eight points in the last three games.
