Victoria Royals forward Teague Patton collected his 12th goal of the season in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Vancouver Giants at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday.
It was a goaltending and defence-heavy contest throughout the night as Giants goaltender Jesper Vikman faced a flurry of shots from the Royals squad being boosted by a strong crowd gathered for the team’s annual Pink in the Rink night presented by Mayfair Optometric.
The 20-year-old stopped all but one of the 38 shots he faced.
Royals General Manager and Head Coach Dan Price emphasized the need to keep up the pressure in the rematch against Vancouver tomorrow:
“We have to follow a similar game plan as tonight’s,” said Price postgame. “Try to get to Vikman, have a lot of pucks there, a lot of bodies there…At the end of the day, and I know this probably sounds trite, but we just have to out-score them. With all the chances we had, we have to find a way to push one across the goal line.”
Victoria goaltender Brayden Holt was equally impressive, despite the final result, making 20 saves on 22 shots.
Forward Ethan Semeniuk would collect the game-winner for Vancouver.
Victoria (14-32-5-1) forward Teague Patton would give the home side the first lead of the game at 15:01 of the second period after the first passed without a goal from either side.
Forward Robin Sapousek and defenceman Nate Misskey would collect assists on the play.
The Royals 1-0 lead would hold until the 2:55 mark of the third, when Vancouver (20-24-4-2) forward Sammy May (1) collected his first career WHL goal to tie the game at 1-1.
The stalemate would hold through the end of regulation and the game would head to overtime. Giants forward Ethan Semeniuk (11) would score the game winner at the 3:16 mark of the extra frame to hand his team the 2-1 victory.
Victoria will wrap-up their two-game set with the Giants tomorrow night in Langley, where puck-drop is set for 7 pm.
