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Victoria Royals pounce on struggling Portland Winterhawks

Those fans who tore themselves away from the Seahawks and baseball playoffs on TV were well rewarded Monday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre with what should rank as one of the best performances in Victoria Royals franchise history.
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Winterhawks defenceman Keoni Texeira tries to slip between Royals forwards Tyler Soy, left, and Austin Carroll during the first period Monday.

Those fans who tore themselves away from the Seahawks and baseball playoffs on TV were well rewarded Monday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre with what should rank as one of the best performances in Victoria Royals franchise history.

The Royals defeated a Portland Winterhawks team loaded with potential future pros 6-2 before 3,791 fans. The matchup was a reprise of last spring’s combative second-round Western Hockey League playoff series, won in five games by Portland.

“This was an easy game to get up for … I liked how our guys played a strong, disciplined game,” said Victoria head coach Dave Lowry.

The result was even more impressive considering Portland’s roster is now practically complete with forwards Nic Petan and Oliver Bjorkstrand returned recently after extended NHL trials with the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively.

Yet, in one of the glaring stories of the young WHL season, the Winterhawks spiraled to 1-6-1. But the rest of the league remains wary because these ’Hawks are capable of reeling off extraordinary winning streaks as the season wears on. Victoria, also underachieving after establishing franchise records last season for wins (48) and points (100), moved to 2-4-1.

“This was a must-win for our team as we head out on the road for six games [in nine nights beginning Friday in Calgary against the Hitmen],” said Lowry.

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The Royals came out snorting physical fire in the first period with open-ice hits as Ryan Gagnon leveled Petan, Austin Carroll jarred both Alex Schoenborn and Anton Cederholm and Joe Hicketts hammered Evan Weinger.

“I tried to come out with energy and passion,” said Carroll, who has four goals and seven points in the five games since being returned from the Calgary Flames of the NHL. “The boys finally came together.”

It was Royals rookie time. Regan Nagy put in a Keegan Kanzig rebound for his first WHL goal. That was followed by a goaltender error by Portland’s Brendan Burke that allowed Matthew Campese to also score his first WHL counter to put Victoria ahead 2-0 in the first.

“It feels good to get the first WHL goal . . . there was a lot of excitement in the dressing room for this game,” said Nagy.

“This was a good game for us because we struggled at the start of the season.”

The second period featured two of the flashiest assists of the season, by Carroll and Nagy, resulting in respective goals by Hicketts and Mitch Skapski. Carroll also scored on the power play as Victoria built a 5-0 lead. Bjorkstrand and Vancouver Canucks blueline draft-pick Cederholm pulled two back for Portland in the third period. But a power-play goal by Jack Walker sealed it for Victoria.

“Anytime you play the team that knocked you out of the playoffs, that’s easy to get up for,” said Hicketts.

“This was a big momentum builder.”

Coleman Vollrath was there when needed with 25 saves for Victoria. Burke and Adin Hill combined for 27 saves for Portland.

ICE CHIPS: The Royals were missing veterans Axel Blomqvist (concussion), Brandon Fushimi (lower-body), Brandon Magee (sitting out a 12-game suspension to start the season for his hit on Petan in the last Royals playoff game last spring) and rookie defenceman Ralph Jarratt (scratched) . . . Winterhawks rookie defenceman Brendan De Jong — whose brother Nolan De Jong was drafted by the Minnesota Wild out of the BCHL Victoria Grizzlies and is now in the NCAA with the Michigan Wolverines — is from Victoria.