Royals swim upstream to 6-3 victory over Rebels
Victoria, BC. — The Victoria Royals returned to the Barn on Blanshard tonight, hosting the Red Deer Rebels in a special game honouring the Victoria Salmon Kings. This matchup marked the only meeting between the Royals and Rebels this regular season, and four-point performances from Roan Woodward and Caleb Matthews led the Royals to the 6-3 win.
Red Deer got on the board first with a goal from Owen DeWitt at 3:23 of the opening frame. They extended their lead with a goal from Poul Andersen just over a minute later, but the Royals cut their deficit to one with a deflection goal from Caleb Matthews, assisted by Roan Woodward and Landon Young at 14:32. The Royals outshot the Rebels 9-6 through the first period, but trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.
Roan Woodward notched the equalizer goal, assisted by Caleb Matthews, during a period of 4-on-4 play just before the five-minute mark of the second frame. Woodward doubled down for his second goal of the game at 10:42, assisted by Ashton Brown and Caleb Matthews. A goal from Ashton Brown off a no-look pass from Ludovic Perreault and a secondary assist from Wyatt Danyleyko in the final minutes of the frame gave the Royals a two-goal lead, but a last-second goal from Jake Missura brought the Rebels back within one headed into the second intermission.
Roan Woodward completed his third hat trick of the season with his third goal of the game less than a minute into the third period. Assists on Woodward’s third goal came from Caleb Matthews and Odin Vauhkonen, earning Matthews his fourth point of the night. Heath Nelson netted his 17th goal of the season, assisted by Ludovic Perreault and Eli McKamey, at 5:33 of the frame, and the he Royals held the three-goal lead through the remainder of the period to secure the 6-3 win at home.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
3:23 Red Deer Rebels Goal
Owen DeWitt (2) assisted by Aleksey Chichkin and Jiri Kamas
4:54 Red Deer Rebels Goal
Poul Andersen (15) assisted by Cameron Kuzma
14:32 Victoria Royals Goal
Caleb Matthews (8) assisted by Roan Woodward and Landon Young
2nd Period
4:43 Victoria Royals Goal
Roan Woodward (24) assisted by Caleb Matthews
10:42 Victoria Royals Goal
Roan Woodward (25) assisted by Ashton Brown and Caleb Matthews
17:13 Victoria Royals Goal
Ashton Brown (10) assisted by Ludovic Perreault and Wyatt Danyleyko
19:59 Red Deer Rebels Goal
Jake Missura (1) unassisted
3rd Period
0:58 Victoria Royals Goal
Roan Woodward (26) assisted by Caleb Matthews and Odin Vauhkonen
5:33 Victoria Royals Goal
Heath Nelson (17) assisted by Ludovic Perreault
Shots on Goal
Royals – 33
Rebels – 28
Powerplay
Royals – 0/3
Rebels – 0/3
Goalie Stats
Royals
Ethan Eskit – 25/28
Rebels
Peyton Shore – 27/33
What’s Next
The Royals will kick off their season series with the Kamloops Blazers, hosting their first meeting of the season this Tuesday, February 3rd. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
