Origlieri stops 50 as Shamrocks roll past Salmonbellies 6-1

Chris Origlieri stood on his head at Queen's Park Arena on Wednesday night, stopping 50 of 51 shots to backstop the Victoria Shamrocks to a 6-1 win over the New Westminster Salmonbellies, despite being outshot 51-39 on the road.

The Shamrocks got off to a fast start in the first period, scoring three times in a little over eight minutes. Koen Block opened the scoring at 8:42, tucking home a feed from Cole Pickup. Zach Manns made it 2-0 just 43 seconds later, converting a Kyle Pepper assist, and Brodie Wade capped the period with an unassisted marker at 11:17 to send Victoria into the intermission up 3-0, even though New Westminster held a 16-14 edge in shots through 20 minutes.

The Shamrocks kept their foot down in the second. Pepper opened the scoring in the frame at 0:28, with Manns and Eli McLaughlin drawing helpers, and Luke Pilcher pushed the lead to 5-0 at 7:41 off a Pickup and Mathieu Gautier setup. Origlieri, meanwhile, continued to turn away everything New Westminster threw at him, keeping the Salmonbellies off the board despite a 17-13 shot advantage of their own in the period.

New Westminster finally solved Origlieri in the third, and did it shorthanded. Conner Cook beat him at 7:31 while the Salmonbellies were killing a slashing minor to Owen Rahn, with Ben Soenen and goaltender Ashton Leclair drawing assists on the play. It was the only blemish on an otherwise dominant night in net for Origlieri.

Victoria answered with a power-play goal of its own. Patrick Dodds capitalized at 14:05, with Manns and Pilcher picking up assists, after Preston Lupul was sent off for holding. That made it 6-1, and neither side found the back of the net again despite New Westminster piling up 18 more shots in the third alone. The Salmonbellies finished with 51 shots on the night to Victoria's 39, but Origlieri's 50 saves proved the difference.

Discipline was a minor factor throughout, with Dodds and Elijah Gash each taking minors for Victoria (slashing and checking from behind, respectively), while Rahn and Lupul were whistled for New Westminster.

Three Stars

  1. Chris Origlieri (Shamrocks) — 50 saves on 51 shots
  2. Ashton Leclair (Salmonbellies) — 33 saves, added an assist
  3. Zach Manns (Shamrocks) — 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points

The win pushes Victoria into the postseason on a high note - the Shamrocks open the playoffs at home against the fourth-place Nanaimo Timbermen on Tuesday, August 4th. Playoff tickets are on sale now at VictoriaShamrocks.com.