Wednesday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre the Vancouver Giants (17-16-1-1) dropped a 1-0 decision to the Victoria Royals (20-12-2-0). Phillip Schultz’s goal early in the third period served as the only offense needed for Victoria who received 29 saves from goaltender Shane Farkas. The Giants got 27 saves in response from David Tendeck. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Giants and pushes them six points back of Victoria for second and five points back of Kelowna for third place in the B.C. Division.
1st Period:
No Scoring
Shots: 10 – 10
2nd Period:
No Scoring
Shots: 8-7 Vancouver
3rd Period:
VIC – Royals captain Phillip Schultz potted the game’s lone goal at 2:58 of the final period. Tarun Fizer’s pass from the left-wing deflected off a Giants defender’s stick to Schultz who was parked close to the net. He then tucked home his sixth of the season giving Victoria enough offense to secure the victory.
Shots: 11 – 11
—
Final Score: Victoria 1 – Vancouver 0
Final Shots: 29-28 Vancouver
David Tendeck: 27/28 saves for Vancouver (10-9)
Shane Farkas: 29/29 saves for Victoria (14-7-1-0)
Vancouver Power Play: 0/1
Victoria Power Play: 0/3
3 Stars:
- Shane Farkas (VIC – 29 Saves, Shutout)
- David Tendeck (VAN – 27 Saves)
- Seth Bafaro (VAN – 3 Shots)
Midway Mark: Today marks the Royals 34th game of the campaign, which brings the team to the official halfway point of the season. Victoria currently sits second in the BC Division, fifth in the Western Conference and 10th in the WHL with a record of 20-12-2-0.
Division Standings: The Royals moved into second place in the BC Division with today’s victory. Victoria, who has 42 points (20-12-2-0), now trail the Kamloops Blazers (22-11-2-1) by five points for top spot in the division, and have played two fewer games. The Royals also sit one point ahead of the third place Kelowna Rockets (19-13-1-2) with a game in hand.
Between the Pipes: Over his WHL career, Royals’ goaltender Shane Farkas is now 7-1-0-0 against the Vancouver Giants. The product of Penticton, BC has earned a 1.25 goals against average, 0.953 save percentage and three shutouts versus the Giants.
Shutouts: Today’s 1-0 win marks the Royals second shutout of the year. The first came on Friday, October 18th against the Swift Current Broncos as Brock Gould made 23 saves.
Streaking: Victoria forward Tarun Fizer extended his point streak to four straight contests. During the streak Fizer has tallied two goals and five assists.
New Year’s Baby: Royals’ defenceman Noah Lamb celebrated his 18th birthday today. Lamb has spent parts of two seasons with the Royals and has recorded a pair of assists in 29 career WHL regular season games.
300th Game: Giants’ forward Tyler Preziuso played in his 300th WHL regular season game today. The Victoria, BC native has recorded 144 points (60g-84a) in his career, which has been spent with both Vancouver and the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Up Next: Victoria will continue their five-game BC Division road trip this weekend with games on Friday against the Kelowna Rockets and Saturday versus the Kamloops Blazers. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
