The Victoria Royals’ Don Cherry-blazer themed jerseys were as loud as the man himself. But Tanner Kaspick proved to be even louder, scoring the overtime winner as the Royals defeated the Prince George Cougars 4-3 before 6,629 fans on Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
It was Kaspick’s second goal of the night, both on combination power/quickness moves to the net, to show why he is signed to an NHL entry-level contract by the St. Louis Blues.
“I like to use my strength and size to my advantage,” he said.
“My legs felt good and it felt like I had some speed tonight.”
Royals captain Matthew Phillips found Tyler Soy at the side of the net at 17:03 of the third period, just as a Victoria power-play ended, to tie it 3-3 and send it to extra time.
It was a big night for Soy on several levels.
Seventeen WHL teams are wearing the Cherry jerseys for a home game this season to raise awareness of organ donation.
In a poignant moment, the ceremonial opening puck was dropped by kidney-transplant recipient Sandy Soy, whose son, Tyler, took the honorary faceoff.
Tyler Soy then added another to his trove of franchise records by playing in his 320th game for Victoria to tie the record also held by former Royals defenceman Ryan Gagnon.
“That moment with my mom out there was pretty special, and it shone a light on organ donation,” said Soy.
Ever the athlete, Soy added: “It felt even better that we got the win.”
Victoria forward Dante Hannoun gave the Don Cherry thumbs up gesture after opening scoring at 10:51 of the first period. Kaspick made it 2-0 at 4:55 of the second period.
Three consecutive goals by Reid Perepeluk, Rhett Rhinehart and Josh Maser gave Prince George the lead by 7:19 of the third period.
That was it for rookie Royals goaltender Dean McNabb, who was pulled in favour of veteran Griffen Outhouse.
“It was as situational move,” said Victoria coach Dan Price.
“We needed a change of momentum and something to spark the troops.”
Price said the mid-game lull was unacceptable.
“We didn't re-engage until we fell behind,” he added.
Tavin Grant was very strong in goal for Prince George with 39 saves.
McNabb made 30 saves and Outhouse five.
The Royals are playoff-bound at 38-25-6, while the Cougars are already eliminated at 23-36-9.
The Royals and Cougars also meet in a Sunday matinée on Blanshard.
The Royals are three points behind the B.C. Division-leading Kelowna Rockets, who hold a game in hand, with four games remaining to Victoria’s three.
Victoria is five points ahead of third-place Vancouver with the Giants holding two games in hand.
