VICTORIA 3 KELOWNA 2
Asked beforehand if Tuesday’s match-up against the Kelowna Rockets represented a statement game, Dave Lowry said he didn’t believe his Victoria Royals needed to make any statements. True enough. They have already done that with a breakout season that has the Royals ranked No. 8 in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll.
Yet it certainly didn’t hurt the narrative to again knock off Kelowna, the top-ranked team in the CHL, as the Royals prevailed 3-2 before 4,908 fans at Prospera Place in the Okanagan.
The Rockets (54-11-4) have had a blockbuster season but have simply not been able to solve the Royals, who won the season series 5-2-1. The next time the teams can possibly meet is the Western Conference final, and Tuesday had a playoff-type vibe.
“We needed to get into a game like that — one that had so much intensity,” said Royals head coach Lowry.
The Royals won their sixth consecutive game, and 13th of the last 14, to move to 48-17-4 overall and are 30-4-3 since Dec. 12. The Royals reached 100 points for the first time in team history. The previous record for most points in a season, in the eight-year history of the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise, was 77 and set last year.
Axel Blomqvist, a Swedish import under NHL contract to the Winnipeg Jets, scored the winner for Victoria on Tuesday at 16:40 of the third period as the Royals rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits.
“It was a matter of keeping it tight and giving ourselves a chance,” said Lowry.
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Tanner Wishnowski, a 17-year-old midget forward making his WHL debut with the Rockets, opened scoring 2:18 into the game. The Royals tied it with Brandon Magee’s 25th goal at 16:23. Cole Linaker’s short-handeder put Kelowna back into the lead at 16:45 of the second period. Ryan Gagnon, normally a quietly-effective stay-at-home rearguard for Victoria, tied the game 2-2 at 5:04 of the third period with just his second goal of the season.
“Ryan’s goal showed just how much this was a team win,” noted Lowry.
Jordon Cooke, who had allowed just two goals in the previous four games, made 33 saves for Kelowna. Patrik Polivka made 34 saves for Victoria.
Both teams’ penalty-kill units were up to scratch as Victoria was held to 0-6 and Kelowna 0-5. In a remarkable accomplishment, considering Kelowna’s power and balance, the Royals denied the Rockets any power-play goals in their eight season meetings.
Forward Steven Hodges (undisclosed ailment) and defenceman Keegan Kanzig (flu) returned to the Victoria line-up.
The Royals are down to three regular-season games remaining — tonight in Vancouver, Friday at home to the Everett Silvertips and next Saturday at Everett. The latter two games may provide a playoff preview. The Royals will be third seed in the Western Conference playoffs, which open March 22-23 at the Memorial Centre against the sixth seed, which will be either Everett, Spokane or Seattle.
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