It was a reminder Friday night to the Victoria Royals of the importance of finishing fourth or fifth in the WHL Western Conference standings.
That would avoid a first-round playoff clash against the conference big three Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks or Prince George Cougars.
A preview came Friday in Washington state in Everett’s 4-1 victory over the Royals before 6,619 fans at Angel of the Winds Arena. The score flattered the injury-ravaged Royals, who were outshot 41-9 midway through the third period enroute to a lopsided 45-17 final tally. It was only the goaltending of Braden Holt, returning to his old rink where he once played for the Silvertips, that kept the Royals from being completely submerged in Puget Sound on the night.
Ben Riche gave Victoria the lead in the first period but that’s as good as it got for the visitors. Ben Hemmerling, an NHL draft pick of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, and 2024 NHL draft-ranked Finnish-import Julius Miettinen each had a goal and two assists for the Silvertips.
The Royals will make their first post-season appearance in five years following the cancellations of the 2020 and 2021 playoffs due to the pandemic and Victoria failing to qualify for the last two post-seasons in 2022 and 2023. They learned Friday that it’s not going to be easy when they get there.
Victoria is in fifth place, three points behind the fourth-place Wenatchee Wild, and one point ahead of the sixth-place Kelowna Rockets and three points ahead of the seventh-place Vancouver Giants. The Wild, Giants and Rockets all have games in hand on the Royals. The Royals (28-26-9) have five regular-season games remaining, including tonight at 6 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre against the Silvertips
