Failure to clamp down late in games cost the Victoria Royals for the second consecutive time on their prairie road trip as Victoria suffered a 3-2 overtime loss in a Western Hockey League game Tuesday night in Brandon.
Wheat Kings captain Nate Danielson, the Detroit Red Wings’ first-round draft selection chosen ninth overall last summer and who just returned from representing Canada in the world junior championship in Sweden, scored the tying goal with 1:21 remaining in the third period. Caleb Hadland decided it at 1:56 of overtime.
That followed the Royals’ 2-1 overtime loss in Regina on Saturday night after the Pats had tied the game with 2:31 remaining in regulation time.
It was Victoria’s fourth consecutive overtime game. The Royals had won all five of their previous overtime games this season before dropping the last two.
“Up until these last two games, we’ve been doing a good job of protecting leads,” said Royals head coach James Patrick.
“It was disappointing we gave up a 3-on-2 rush late [leading to Danielson’s tying goal]. A breakdown in our system ended up costing us. If you turnover pucks against really good rush teams, it will end up costing you.”
Brandon (20-14-5) outshot Victoria 41-27 with Braden Holt turning in another strong performance in the Royals’ crease.
“They [Wheat Kings] are a really good team and very talented,” said Patrick.
“They were able to pressure us. Brandon has depth and strength in every position and is a really good skating team that is building for the next couple of years. For us to be successful against these teams, we have to play our system as well as we can and spend more time in the offensive zone.”
The result was hardest on Royals players Dawson Pasternak, Hayden Chaloner and Teydon Trembecky, who were former Wheat Kings players returning to Brandon. The Wheat Kings’ Luke Shipley was a former Royals defenceman.
Pasternak, Victoria’s leading point-getter after being lifted from the Wheat Kings in an early-season steal of a deal for the Royals, and Trembecky each had assists Tuesday while Chaloner just missed scoring on a breakaway.
Cole Reschny, third in WHL rookie points, and Reggie Newman on the power play, got the two Victoria shots past six-foot-three Brandon goaltender Carson Bjarnason, a Philadelphia second-round NHL draft pick, who has been signed by the Flyers.
Brett Hyland’s goal to tie it 1-1 with three seconds remaining in the first period was Brandon’s first goal in three games following successive 4-0 losses.
Victoria (23-13-4) continues its nearly 5,000-kilometre bus trip through the East Division in Moose Jaw Wednesday night against the Warriors (22-15-2) and first-round NHL draft pick Matt Savoie and former Royals players Kalem Parker and Brayden Schuurman. Royals forward Ben Riche, who came the other way in the October trade along with a handsome parcel of two first-round and a second-round selection in future WHL prospects drafts, returns to his old haunts in Moose Jaw.
Then it’s on to meet the Raiders (18-18-3) in Prince Albert on Friday night and the league-leading Blades (26-8-4) in Saskatoon on Saturday night.
“This trip is one of the biggest tests of the year,” said Patrick.
“We are playing really tough games in every building. Travel is part of junior hockey. It’s part of being resilient and focused. The mental focus is as important as the physical when you’ve got four games in five days with travel.”
