Royals Come Up Short in Overtime Battle with the Giants

Langley, B.C. – The Victoria Royals hit the ice for their first road game Friday night against the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre. After a high-scoring affair that saw over 70 combined shots in nearly 65 minutes of play, the Giants took the 6-5 win in overtime.

Ashton Brown opened the scoring early with his first regular-season goal as a Royal in his first appearance since the preseason with assists from Heath Nelson and Landon Young. The Giants responded just over two minutes later with the equalizer goal from Adam Titlbach. Victoria regained the lead after rookie Henry Peterson netted his first WHL goal at 8:48 of the frame, assisted by Caleb Matthews. Miles Cooper notched his first goal as a Royal, assisted by Heath Nelson and Ashton Brown, just over three minutes later to give the Royals the 3-1 lead headed into the first intermission.

The Giants brought the game within one with a goal from Tyus Sparks around the six-minute mark of the second period. A mid-frame Royals penalty saw the Giants mark several dangerous attempts, but goaltender Ethan Eskit and the Royals special teams denied Vancouver the power-play goal to maintain the 3-2 lead. Reggie Newman struck in the final minutes of the frame, assisted by Hayden Moore and Timofei Runtso, to bring the score to 4-2 after 40 minutes of play.

An early third-period goal from Adam Titlbach cut the Royals lead to one, and the game was knotted up with a goal from Ryan Lin at 6:14 of the frame. The Giants took their first lead of the night with a goal from Ty Halaburda with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Roan Woodward tied the game with a power-play marker in the final 30 seconds of the frame, assisted by Miles Cooper and Hayden Moore, to force an overtime frame.

Cameron Schmidt finished the game with a power-play goal in the dying seconds of overtime.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

1:27 Victoria Royals Goal

Ashton Brown (1) assisted by Heath Nelson and Landon Young

3:45 Vancouver Giants Goal

Adam Titlbach (1) assisted by Tyus Sparks

8:48 Victoria Royals Goal

Henry Peterson (1) assisted by Caleb Matthews

12:09 Victoria Royals Goal

Miles Cooper (1) assisted by Heath Nelson and Ashton Brown

2nd Period

5:44 Vancouver Giants Goal

Tyus Sparks (1) assisted by Blake Chorney

16:59 Victoria Royals Goal

Reggie Newman (2) assisted by Hayden Moore and Timofei Runtso

3rd Period

1:48 Vancouver Giants Goal

Adam Titlbach (2) unassisted

6:14 Vancouver Giants Goal

Ryan Lin (2) assisted by Jakob Oreskovic

18:14 Vancouver Giants Goal

Ty Halaburda (1) assisted by Cameron Schmidt and Ryan Lin

19:32 Victoria Royals Goal

Roan Woodward (1) assisted by Miles Cooper and Hayden Moore

Overtime

4:45 Vancouver Giants Goal

Cameron Schmidt (1) assisted by Ryan Lin and Ty Halaburda

Shots on Goal

Royals – 36

Giants – 37

Powerplay

Royals – 1/2

Giants – 1/2

Goalie Stats

Royals

Ethan Eskit – 31/37

Giants

Burke Hood – 31/36

What’s Next

The Royals and Giants will cross the water to complete the home-and-home series at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tomorrow night, with their second game slated 6:05 pm. The game will celebrate 100 years since the Victoria Cougars’ won the Stanley Cup in 1925.