It鈥檚 a good bet that Victoria Royals goaltender Griffen Outhouse didn鈥檛 dream of sugar-plums dancing in his head early Saturday morning, even with Christmas just around the corner.
No, he likely dreamt of black, a whole lot of black, reliving the wave after wave of Vancouver Giants attackers that bore down on him most of Friday night at the 91原创 Events Centre.
In a dominating performance that belied the final score, the Giants levied 37 shots on Outhouse in a 3-1 victory before a relatively sparse crowed of 3,072 fans at the LEC.
There was a lot that Giants head coach Jason McKee liked about his team鈥檚 effort.
鈥淎rguably one of our best (games) of the year,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l take it.鈥�
The Royals fell to 20-12-3 with the loss while the Giants (16-13-2-2) stretched their win streak to four games, and are now 5-1 in December.
McKee said a skilled Royals squad brought a variety of challenges to the table.
鈥淭heir speed, their high skill level, they have a lot of guys that can hurt you, but I thought we did a good job of defending that top line,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淵ou put those three together, that鈥檚 a lot but I thought we did a good job against them.鈥�
And then there鈥檚 Outhouse, who was easily the Royals鈥� best player.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been good against us for two years, now,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淗e was good again tonight. He鈥檚 athletic, he makes saves that you don鈥檛 expect him to, and he鈥檚 a big part of their team.鈥�
The Giants set the tone by striking for two goals in the waning seconds of the opening frame.
On a Giants鈥� power play, Jared Dmytriw tipped in a point shot from Alex Kannok Leipert with 31 seconds to go in the first period.
It didn鈥檛 took long for the Giants to make it 2-0. A mere two seconds to go before the intermission, the Giants鈥� tough, veteran blueliner Darian Skeoch notched his first of the campaign to stun the Royals and give the hosts a two-goal cushion.
The Giants smothered the Royals for much of the second period and by all accounts could have easily been up by five or six goals, if not for Outhouse鈥檚 fantastic netminding.
The boys in black were finally rewarded when captain Tyler Benson took a feed from linemate James Malm and had an open net to shoot at 鈥� he made no mistake in muscling the puck past a sprawling Outhouse.
But against the flow of the play and with 45 seconds remaining in the middle period, Noah Gregor put the Royals on the board on a bang-bang play, for his 15th of the season.
It was just the 13th shot the Royals had managed on Giants鈥� goaltender David Tendeck at that point of the night.
The first half of the third period was highlighted by a bone jarring bodycheck delivered by Benson on a Victoria defenceman as the puck was rung around the boards.
Benson was called for charging on the play, and Victoria鈥檚 Ralph Jarratt gave Benson the business to defend his teammate, was called for roughing, so the penalties evened themselves out.
Outhouse had some company in the strong goaltending department: Tendeck made a few solid stops with Victoria pressing late in the contest.
The Royals pulled Outhouse for an extra attacker late in the game but any hopes for a comeback were dashed when forward Tyler Soy took a needless slashing penalty with 37 seconds to go in regulation.
Even though they were stymied after their third goal, the Giants stayed patient, another trait their head coach liked.
鈥淲e stuck to the game plan in the third,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淲e never really hurt ourselves which is a big stepping point for this team. We played the game the right way. We made them try to beat us; we didn鈥檛 beat ourselves.鈥�
The teams rematch Saturday night at Victoria鈥檚 Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena.
And on Sunday, the Giants wrap up their three-games-in-three-days weekend when they host the Prince George Cougars on Teddy Bear Toss day at the LEC. Game time is 4 p.m.
