Rebels 2 Royals 1
VICTORIA — Thanks mainly to netminder Patrik Bartosak, the Red Deer Rebels opened their six-game Western Hockey League road trip on a positive note Friday.
Bartosak turned aside 42 shots — including 19 in the second period — and was named first star of the game as the Rebels pulled out a 2-1 win over the Victoria Royals in front of 3,787 fans at Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena.
Dominik Volek staked the visitors to a 1-0 lead when he one-timed a feed from Wyatt Johnson past Victoria goalie Partik Polivka 14 minutes into the contest and defenceman Haydn Fleury notched a late second-period power-play goal that proved to be the winner.
Ben Walker pulled the Royals to within one when he connected at 6:04 of the final frame, but Bartosak shut the door the rest of the way while making 11 saves in the period.
The Rebels, who directed a total of 18 shots at Polivka, were one-for-five on the power play. The Royals were zero-for-four with a man advantage.
The clubs meet again tonight before Red Deer heads to Kamloops for a Tuesday meeting with the Blazers. The Rebels close out their nine-day trip with games Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Kelowna, Cranbrook and Lethbridge.