Rockets, Royals face off at Prospera
Griffen Outhouse’s shutout streak came to an end, but the Victoria Royals’ winning streak might just be getting going.
Outhouse went 147 minutes eight seconds without allowing a goal before Nolan Foote scored for the third straight game, but it was too little, too late for the host Kelowna Rockets, as Outhouse slammed the door shut again in securing a 2-1 victory on Friday night at Prospera Place.
“It’s the only way we’re going to win — and he knows that,” Royals coach Dave Lowry said of Outhouse’s goaltending heroics in stopping 108 of 110 combined shots while sweeping a two-game home set against the B.C. Division-leading Prince George Cougars coming out of the Christmas break before downing another rival in the Rockets (23-14-2-0).
“He’s an integral part to our success,” Lowry continued in his praise of the game’s first star, who finished with 26 saves.
“We challenged him, and he was good in the two games against P.G. and I thought he was really good again tonight. He gave us a chance.”
Outhouse was especially good in a scoreless second period, when the Rockets gained momentum from killing off a full two-minute, two-man advantage for Victoria and pushed back by outshooting the Royals 15-7 for a 19-15 overall lead after 40 minutes.
However, Kelowna still trailed 1-0 with Outhouse proving unbeatable in stoning Rockets leading scorer Kole Lind on a point-blank shot from the slot dur- ing a 4-on-4 situation before snaring Kyle Topping’s labelled attempt with relative ease.
“The goalie was good; he stood on his head and made some big saves,” said Foote. “We just need to get more shots to the net, and just be better.”
The Royals were certainly the better team in the opening period, getting the lone goal on a bar-down snipe from Jack Walker off the rush and doubling the Rockets in shots 8-4.
Victoria’s Kaid Oliver buried a rebound on a delayed penalty to make it 2-0 in the third period, and Outhouse made that lead stand up in the dying seconds by stopping Kelowna captain Rodney Southam on the doorstep.
“There were some good saves, but we probably wish we had some better shots too,” said Rockets head coach Jason Smith. “We had opportunities where we were 15 feet from the net, and you have to make sure you bear down and shoot it where you want to shoot it.”
The Rockets pressed for the equalizer after Foote got them on the board with 4:21 remaining in regulation but weren’t worthy of the two points. The Royals (20-15-4-0) closed to within four points of second-place Kelowna in the standings and Prince George pulled eight points ahead by prevailing 4-3 in Everett on Friday night.
“We didn’t play well enough to win, obviously,” said Smith. “The results are what we deserved.”
Goaltender Michael Herringer was Kelowna’s best player on the night and the game’s second star, matching Outhouse with 26 stops.
“He was outstanding,” Smith said of Herringer. “The game could have been lopsided the other way, but he made some real big saves and that’s what we need from our goalies.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna F Calvin Thurkauf, who is captaining the Swiss team at the world juniors and playing on their top line, signed an entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. Thurkauf was drafted in the seventh round (185th overall) this past June . . . . Victoria D Chaz Reddekopp, a West Kelowna product, extended his points streak to 10 games with an assist on Oliver’s goal.