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Victoria Royals rebound to throttle Kelowna Rockets

VICTORIA 5 KELOWNA 2 The Kelowna Rockets do put their hockey pants on one leg at a time. The Victoria Royals scored four third-period goals to defeat the Western Hockey League’s top team, ranked No.
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Victoria Royals Greg Chase, left, shoots the puck wide on Kelowna Rockets goaltender Michael Herringer during their WHL game on Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

VICTORIA 5
KELOWNA 2

The Kelowna Rockets do put their hockey pants on one leg at a time.

The Victoria Royals scored four third-period goals to defeat the Western Hockey League’s top team, ranked No. 2 in the Canadian Hockey League, by a 5-2 count on Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Royals fans seem to have found a rivalry they can relate to even more than Nic Petan and the Portland Winterhawks, with attendance topping 13,000 for the weekend set against the Rockets (46-10-4). Saturday’s throng of 6,867 followed Friday night’s crowd of 6,254 that Kelowna hushed with a third-period rally of its own in a 3-2 victory.

“Our guys were geared up for these games. The fans gave us that extra boost,” said Royals forward Brandon Magee, as Victoria (33-23-4) snapped a two-game losing skid.

Magee, cutting to the net, redirected a puck from Brandon Fushimi at 6:39 of the third period for a 2-1 Victoria lead. That was followed by goals from Jack Walker, Taylor Crunk and defenceman Travis Brown, the latter into an empty net. Crunk’s goal was his second of the night. The victory was built on the backs of unsung, but quietly crucial, players such as Crunk, Fushimi, Walker and Logan Fisher, the latter who led Victoria with four assists.

“They are our heart-and-soul guys. They bring their lunch buckets every day,” said Magee.

Said Fisher: “We try to be consistent . . . whatever it takes.”

Added Crunk: “We need secondary scoring to take pressure off our top guys.”

Leon Draisaitl from Cologne, Germany, a monstrously talented player at the junior level, scored for Kelowna along with Dillon Dube. But on this night, that’s all the damage that could be done by Draisaitl, the third overall selection in the 2014 NHL draft, who began the season with 37 games for the Edmonton Oilers. Draisaitl provided the dramatic dagger Friday with the winning goal in the last minute on a three-point night.

“We needed to be able to rebound from [Friday night], and the way we lost,” said Royals coach Dave Lowry.

“We are working on developing a playoff identity and mindset.”

Goaltender and Islander Michael Herringer, formerly property of the Royals, has been carrying the mail for Kelowna in the crease after starter Jackson Whistle underwent appendix surgery Feb. 6. The six-foot-one graduate of the Comox Valley Chiefs youth system, sports a 7-2 record in 10 appearances this season for the Rockets and was strong Saturday in making 34 saves. Justin Paulic also stood his ground in making 31 saves for Victoria.

It was the second of three consecutive games between these two teams, continuing Wednesday in the Okanagan. Kelowna leads the season series 4-2.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com