VANCOUVER 3-VICTORIA 2
One couldn’t help but think this was an opportunity missed by the Victoria Royals.
The Vancouver Giants were without two key players, captain Zack Ostapchuk is with sa国际传媒 and Samuel Honzek with Slovakia at the world junior championship taking place in the Maritimes, yet still beat the Royals 3-2 in a Western Hockey League game at the Langley Events Centre on Tuesday night.
The difference was veteran six-foot-three goaltender Jesper Vikman.
The Swede, who has represented his country in the world junior championship and was drafted in 2020 by the Las Vegas Golden Knights, made 34 saves including several in succession late in the third period to keep the Royals at bay.
Nicholas Cristiano made only 16 saves for Victoria.
“We played well enough to win. If we play like that, we will win most nights,” said Victoria GM and head coach Dan Price.
“Vikman made some important saves, especially in the third period, and we have to work harder to screen him.
“We feel really confident for the rest of the week.
“We have to stay focused on the process.”
The Giants produced just enough offence to stymie the Royals in the first of a three-game cross-strait set that continues tonight in the LEC and Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Victoria-product Ty Halaburda, ranked for the second-to-third rounds of the 2023 NHL draft, opened scoring at 7:58 of the first period.
Ty Thorpe made that a two-goal advantage at 8:43 of the third period.
American walk-on revelation Jaden Lipinski from Scottsdale, named to play with teammate Honzek in the NHL Top Prospects Game next month, made it 3-0 at 13:01 on the power play.
Riley Gannon scored his ninth goal of the season to get Victoria on the board at 10:18 of the third period and Alex Thacker’s sixth pulled the Royals to within one in the final minute.
Victoria’s power play was found wanting at 0-6 while the Giants went 1-3.
The Giants (13-15-6) moved 15 points ahead of Victoria (7-24-3) in the table.
The Giants are among the teams the Royals must target to claim the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference, so this was not a good way to start after the Christmas break for Victoria, even if the Royals had enough jump to outshoot and outplay the Giants.
“The guys are in a sour mood because they felt they played well enough to win,” said Price.
“We just have to grit our teeth and go out there again [tonight].”
The Royals also have a player in the world junior tournament but Czech forward Robin Sapousek has yet to play for Victoria this season and will join the team next week.
The Royals were again without captain Gannon Laroque but his return is near after surgery that has kept him out of the WHL season.
The NHL-signed San Jose Sharks defenceman is listed as day-to-day with a targeted return for Jan. 3.
