Mission Impossible? No.
Mission Improbable? Certainly.
Rallying from a 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series has only been done twice before in Western Hockey League playoff history.
But thrice would be nice, as far as the Victoria Royals are concerned.
They took the first step in that daunting task with a 5-4 overtime victory against the heavily-favoured Kelowna Rockets in Game 4 of their second-round series Wednesday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre after trailing on the scoreboard 2-0 and 3-1 in the first period and 4-2 in the third period.
Game 5 is tonight in the Okanagan against a Rockets team that is ranked No. 2 in the WHL and No. 4 in the Canadian Hockey League and that has won 60 games this season. Of that victory total, 53 came in the regular season and seven in the playoffs, including a sweep of the Tri-City Americans in the first round. The Royals staved off a similar fate as Tri-City on Wednesday. But how long can they keep it going?
“We don’t talk about the improbability of it,” said Victoria head coach Dave Lowry, of his team’s predicament in the second round after taking the Prince George Cougars 4-1 in the first round.
“We talk about the moment at hand and staying within that as a focus. Every game now, our season is down to three periods. That’s the reality and the position we have put ourselves in. The urgency has to be there right from the start.”
The Rockets franchise has been a part of that rare history into which the Royals must dip. Kelowna became only the second WHL team to rally from a 0-3 deficit when they came back in 2013 to beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 in the first round. Rockets head coach Dan Lambert was Kelowna assistant coach two years ago, so he knows it can happen and will be wary of the Royals.
The only other time it has happened is when the Spokane Chiefs came from 0-3 down against the Portland Winterhawks to win their opening-round series in 1996.
The closest a Victoria team has come to achieving that is when the Cougars, then based in the capital, rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Calgary Wranglers in the 1981 WHL final.
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Meanwhile, Lowry, as he has done throughout the playoffs, refused comment about some of the questionable calls that have gone against his team. Enraged Victoria fans among the nearly 5,000 chanted: “Ref, you suck,” on Wednesday.
But the Royals managed to survive, limiting Kelowna’s potent power-play to 0-8 in Game 4 after it had scored six goals over the first three games of the series.
“If urgency is a key, so is discipline,” said Lowry.
“We’re playing with fire [Kelowna’s league-best power play]. And [penalty killing] wears down players.”
With nothing to lose, Lowry tinkered with the roster Wednesday. The injection of forward Dante Hannoun, defenceman Alexey Sleptsov and goaltender Justin Paulic — who made 36 saves to Rocket Jackson Whistle’s 27 — seemed to give Victoria a lift.
“They gave us a boost,” concurred Lowry.
At this point, try anything. The Royals need it all.
“Our top players have to be our top players and we also need other guys to step up,” said Lowry.
If required, Game 6 would be Sunday night back on Blanshard. Game 7, if necessary, would be Tuesday in the Okanagan.
