Rockets down Royals in shootout

It wasn’t the way the Victoria Royals wanted to wrap up the 2017 portion of the 2017-18 Western Hockey League season as the visiting club dropped a 3-2 overtime shootout decision to the Kelowna Rockets in a key B.C. Division matchup on Saturday night.

That’s now five losses in six outings for the Royals, who hope to ring in the new year with a victory in Kamloops against the Blazers at the Sandman Centre on Monday at 2 p.m.

Victoria earned a valuable point in the setback, however, bouncing back from a 2-1 deficit late to salvage the point.

Leif Mattson’s shoot-out offering finally clinched it for the Rockets in a playoff-like game. The teams went through five shooters apiece before Kelowna ended it.

Mattson had opened the scoring just 44 seconds in, but Tyler Soy managed to get that one back for the Royals, finishing off a Matthew Phillips feed at 3:52. The goal extended Soy’s point streak to eight games.

Victoria product Ted Brennan, collected an assist on Mattson’s goal. The 17-year-old played for the Saanich Braves of the Vancouver Island Junior B Hockey League last season.

Kyle Topping, of Salt Spring Island, then gave the Rockets a 2-1 advantage on a second-period power play as he collected his 14th goal of the season to match last year’s total production.

Rockets goaltender Roman Basran denied Soy on a shorthanded breakaway later in the middle stanza, but Phillips tied it up at 2-2 at 14:46 of the third period to send it to overtime. It took a remarkable stick-less save by Griffen Outhouse with less than a minute remaining to get it to the extra period for the Royals.

Victoria had two chances to win it in the shootout, but Soy and newcomer Jeff de Wit were both denied by Basran, who made 36 saves prior to the shootout to earn first-star honours. Outhouse made 30 stops to be named second star of the game.

Kelowna was without Dillon Dube and Cal Foote, both representing Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Foote had three assists in Canada’s 8-0 win over Denmark on Saturday.

Victoria’s Igor Martynov scored a goal in a losing cause for Team Belarus, which remains winless at the international tournament in Buffalo. The Royals are also without key injured forwards Noah Gregor (wrist) and Regan Nagy (finger).