Royals halt skid at Blades’ expense
There is nothing like the Saskatoon Blades for what ails you these days in the Western Hockey League. The historic franchise, the oldest in the league, has missed the playoffs the past four seasons.
The Victoria Royals (10-3-1), meanwhile, are proving to be a major player in the 2017-18 season with a incendiary offence and showed that again Tuesday night with a 7-2 victory over the Blades (3-7-1) before 2,732 fans at SaskTel Centre. The win halted a twogame Victoria losing skid.
Overage-forward Regan Nagy, who has 13 goals on the season, led Victoria with a hat-trick on a four-point night. Nagy is the less heralded of Victoria’s trio of allowable 20-year-old players, which includes Los Angeles Kings-signed defenceman Chaz Reddekopp and Anaheim Ducksdrafted forward Tyler Soy.
“Regan works hard at his game and is well liked as a person on the team,” said Victoria head coach Dan Price, about what Nagy brings to the squad.
Calgary Flames-drafted forward Matthew Phillips scored shorthanded for his 12th goal of the season for Victoria. Dante Hannoun, Jared Legin and Soy also scored once each for the Royals.
Victoria goaltender Griffen Outhouse’s timely saves in the early going were acknowledged with him being named the game’s second star on a 28-stop night over two periods before being replaced for the third period by backup Dean McNabb with Victoria leading 7-1.
“Credit to Griffen . . . he made some huge saves that allowed us to gain traction and take the lead,” said Price.
Victoria has been noticeably outshot in several of its 10 victories and was again 40-26 by Saskatoon. The Royals’ opportunism is unmatched this season in the WHL.
“Saskatoon came at us hard. It was another game in which the score was not indicative of the play. The first-period score [Victoria led 3-0 after the opening frame] could have been the other way,” added Price.
Nagy was named the first star and Victoria’s Russian-import forward Yan Khomenko, who had three assists, the third star.
The Royals are 3-3 on their season-long seven-game road swing, which concludes tonight against the Raiders in Prince Albert.