KAMLOOPS 7 - VICTORIA 1
Dylan Garand won the lopsided battle of the Island goaltenders Friday night in Kamloops.
The New York Rangers-drafted Langford product and Canada silver medallist in the 2021 world junior championship backstopped the Blazers to a 7-1 WHL victory over the Victoria Royals.
Not that he was needed much, as Kamloops outshot Victoria 58-16. Garand, the likely starter for Canada in the crease for the 2022 world junior championship, needed to make only 15 saves for the victory.
Nanaimo-product Campbell Arnold, meanwhile, was buried under an avalanche of pucks by comparison in making 51 saves as the Royals lost their ninth consecutive game to fall to 1-10. The Blazers are 7-1 and showed why they are ranked fifth in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll.
Matthew Seminoff scored the first two goals in the first 10 minutes and that’s all Kamloops would need. Brayden Schuurman, one of the few Victoria offensive bright spots on the season, scored his seventh goal to pull the Royals to within one on the power play but the visitors would get no closer.
The Royals head to Kelowna to take on the Rockets (2-3) tonight and will be hoping for better against the only team they have beaten. The Royals return to the Island to host Kamloops next Friday and Saturday at the Memorial Centre.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Ice were denied in their bid to tie the WHL record for the longest winning streak to begin a regular season at 12 games. The Ice, ranked No. 2 in the CHL top-10 poll, were beaten 3-1 in Edmonton against the CHL No. 3-ranked Oil Kings in a marquee early-season match-up.
The WHL record of 12 wins to start a season was set by the Swift Current Broncos in 1988-89.
