They are proving to be a bit of a resilient bunch, but this time there was no comeback.
The Victoria Royals dug themselves a hole for the fourth straight game, but failed to fully climb out of it, losing 3-2 to the Memorial Cup-champion Edmonton Oil Kings on the road at Rexall Place on Wednesday.
It came a night after rallying from a 4-0 deficit for a 6-5 overtime win up the Queen Elizabeth II highway in Red Deer and a 3-2 victory in Calgary on Friday, after falling behind 2-0 to the Hitmen. Victoria, now 4-6-1, also trailed Medicine Hat by a 2-0 score in a resounding 8-2 setback on Saturday.
“I think we played against a good hockey team tonight and we spotted them a three-goal lead which is hard to come back from,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry, who watched his team trail 3-0.
“It’s something that I’m not overly crazy about,” he added of the trend of falling behind. “If I could put my finger on it, it certainly wouldn’t be happening.”
>>> GET MORE VICTORIA ROYALS COVERAGE
Goaltender Evan Smith made his first Western Hockey League start for the Royals and couldn’t quite get all of Brett Pollock’s shot from the slot just 1:04 into the game. Pollock then added a second goal at 10:53 on a one-timer through Smith’s legs as the Royals trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Smith, a rookie, had also replaced starting goalie Coleman Vollrath on Tuesday after the veteran had allowed three goals on 10 Red Deer shots in the first 10 minutes.
Victoria’s power play — which was 2-for-5 in the Red Deer win — struggled mightily on Wednesday going 0-for-4 in the first period alone and then allowed a short-handed, breakaway goal by Edgars Kulda just 3:30 into the second period. The special teams unit finished 0-for-6 with the goal against.
“Last night [Tuesday] the power play won us a hockey game and tonight it costs us a hockey game. It evens out,” said Lowry.
Austin Carroll finally got the Royals on the scoreboard at 16:29 of the second period with his eighth goal of the season as he beat Oil Kings goalie Tristan Jarry over the glove. The Calgary Flames prospect extended the league’s longest active goal streak to eight games with the tally.
Defenceman Joe Hicketts then scored with just over two seconds remaining to make it 3-2.
It was the Royals’ fourth game in six nights as they are in midst of a gruelling six-game road trip that will continue Friday in Lethbridge before concluding on Saturday in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice.
LOOSE PUCKS: Marsel Ibragimov, plucked off import waivers from Edmonton last week, played his second game for the Royals. Jake Kohlhauser, acquired from the Royals in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2016, did not dress for Edmonton. … Victoria native Dysin Mayo, a fifth-round draft pick of the Arizona Coyotes, has three assists in eight games for the Oil Kings.
