It wasn’t a mirage.
Something that hasn’t been seen for a while, a full slate of games in the Western Hockey League, occurred Friday night.
Once the ice spray settled the Victoria Royals were five points ahead of 10th-place Spokane Chiefs, 6-2 losers to Everett, and four points ahead of the ninth-place Tri-City Americans, which recorded a stunning 5-4 come-from-behind upset of Kamloops, in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. It’s mid-January and the time to starting standings watching.
The Royals, playing for the first time since a 5-2 loss in Kelowna on New Year’s Day, lost again to the Rockets 6-4 Friday.
Power play goals by Bailey Peach and Riley Gannon 29 seconds apart in the third period brought Victoria to within 4-3 but the Royals would get no closer as Scott Cousins’ first goal of the season and Jake Poole’s ninth put it away for the Rockets.
Brayden Schuurman, ranked the 58th North American skater for the 2022 NHL draft, scored the other two Royals goals on a four-point night.
In a reversal of season form, it was the Royals who heavily outshot a team in holding a 42-27 advantage. Tyler Palmer made 21 saves for Victoria and Talyn Boyko 38 for Kelowna.
“We had plenty of chances,” said Victoria head coach Dan Price.
“Kelowna was opportunistic and took advantage of our breakdowns. Short-staffed, our guys logged lots of minutes tonight.”
The Royals are among the 15 WHL clubs that were under COVID protocols the past two weeks that have now been green lit to return. All 22 WHL teams are now eligible to compete in regular-season play.
The Royals, who remain in Kelowna tonight for another game against the Rockets, are coming off a lay-off following four consecutive games postponed due to seven players previously being on the league protocol list. With three players still on the list and day-to-day, combined with eight injuries, the Royals dressed 16 skaters, which is two less than allowed. Key among the injured are captain Tarun Fizer and world junior championship player and Swiss import forward Keanu Derungs, both of whom did not make the trip, which continues with games Tuesday and Wednesday in Prince George against the Cougars. The Royals have called up three affiliate players.
Victoria is 12-15-4 and Kelowna 17-10-4 as the Rockets proved again difficult to beat at home at 12-4-1. The Royals fell to below .500 on the road at 6-7-3. Victoria is 1-3-2 against Kelowna on the season.
ICE CHIPS: The elegant-skating former Royals forward Brayden Tracey, who led Victoria in scoring in the pandemic-abbreviated 2021 season last spring, made his NHL debut this week with the Anaheim Ducks.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
