Victoria Royals Blank Hurricanes 4-0

VICTORIA, BC. - Patrik Polivka stopped every shot he faced as the Victoria Royals shut out the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-0 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre Friday night.

Kind of a slow start to this game for both teams. The only offence came in the final few minutes while the Hurricanes were on a power play. Right off the draw, a miscue at the Royals blueline turned into a two-on-one shorthanded rush the other way for Victoria. Brandon Fushimi made a nice move and snapped the puck by Hurricanes starting goaltender Chris Tai and that made in 1-0 Royals after one period. The shots were even at 8-8.

In the second, the Royals would extend their lead. Seconds after a Victoria power play expired, Joe Hicketts one-timed a point shot which got by Tai to make it 2-0 Victoria. The Canes had a few chances to clear the zone on that penalty kill, but just couldn't get it out. The Hurricanes had several chances to score, but Patrik Polivka was solid between the pipes for Victoria to keep the Canes off the scoresheet. The Royals would take a 2-0 lead into the dressing room through 40 minutes of play. Lethbridge held a 20-17 edge in shots on goal.

In the third, the home team would get another one, this time on the power play. Logan Nelson unleashed a bullet, beating Tai to the glove side. That made it 3-0 Victoria. Two minutes later Victoria would get another goal, again with the man advantage. This time Austin Carroll found the back of the net, making it 4-0. Patrik Polivka was able to hold the fort closed the rest of the way and the Royals would blank the Canes after it was all said and done.

The Hurricanes continue to struggle in the early part of the season, This loss drops their record to 1-6-0-1. One positive for Lethbridge was the shots on goal.The Canes kept the Royals to under 30 shots as they final overall shots were 27-27. Lots of power play time for both teams in this game. Victoria finished the game 2/7 and the Canes went 0/7 on the man advantage. The Hurricanes have lost 4 straight games.

Next Up

The Hurricanes next action is right back in Victoria fo the second half of back-to-back games on the Island. This will be the the second of three meetings this year between Canes and Victoria. The Royals will make their only visit to Lethbridge in mid-December. Game time Saturday is 8:00 pm MDT. The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30.

Thanks,
Pat