Royals fight to the bitter end against the Rockets

Victoria, BC – The Victoria Royals hit the ice at home tonight to host the Kelowna Rockets in their second matchup of the regular season. After the Royals won the shootout match in Kelowna last week, the Rockets evened the tally, winning in the shootout tonight at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.  

Roan Woodward got the Royals ahead early with a goal assisted by Miles Cooper on the first shot of the game just over a minute into the opening period. Kelowna answered with a goal from Kayden Longley at 4:12 to knot the game at one, and though the Royals outshot the Rockets 16-6 in the first frame, the teams remained tied after 20 minutes of play.  

The second period saw eight minutes of 4-on-4 play and two minutes of Royals man-advantage, but neither team was able to break the tie and the score remained 1-1 going into the second intermission.   

A third-period penalty kill from the Royals held the Rockets to zero shots on five attempts, but no scoring in the final 20 minutes of regulation forced the game into overtime.  

Neither team could break through in the overtime frame, and after more than 60 minutes of scoreless hockey, the game went into a shootout.  

Daniel Pekar had the winning shot for Kelowna after five rounds of shootout.  

 

Scoring Summary  

1st Period 

1:22 Victoria Royals Goal 

Roan Woodward (9) assisted by Miles Cooper 

4:12 Kelowna Rockets Goal 

Kayden Longley (4) assisted by Jaxon Kehrig and Dawson Gerwing 

 

2nd Period 

No Scoring 

 

3rd Period 

No Scoring 

 

Overtime 

No Scoring 

 

Shootout 

Eli McKamey (VIC) – GOAL  

Tomas Poletin (KEL) – MISS  

Roan Woodward (VIC) – MISS 

Kalder Varga (KEL) – GOAL 

Miles Cooper (VIC) – MISS 

Hiroki Gojsic (KEL) – MISS  

Ludovic Perreault (VIC) – GOAL  

Carson Wetsch (KEL) – GOAL 

Heath Nelson (VIC) – MISS 

Daniel Pekar (KEL) – GOAL 

 

 

Shots on Goal 

Royals – 34 

Rockets – 33 

 

Powerplay 

Royals – 0/4 

Rockets – 0/1 

 

Goalie Stats 

Royals 

Ethan Eskit – 32/33 

 

Rockets 

 Josh Banini – 33/34 

 

What’s Next 

The Royals will hit the road to embark on a brief US road swing, beginning this Friday, October 24th at 7:05 PM at the Toyota Center where they will face the Tri-City Americans for the first time this season. The team will then make their way to Portland to meet the Winterhawks with puck drop set for 4:00 PM this Sunday, October 26th at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.