The Victoria Royals weren’t about to show any mercy for the struggling Kelowna Rockets on Friday night.
No, when you get a chance to knock off a perennial powerhouse in their own barn, you jump all over it.
And that’s exactly what the Royals did, beating the Rockets 4-3 in front of 4,361 fans at Prospera Place.
The loss dropped the Rockets to 1-6 on the season, while the Royals picked up their first road win to stay perfect on the season at 5-0.
The Royals wasted little time pouncing on a Rockets team whose six losses have all come against B.C. Division teams. Veteran Dante Hannoun scored his first of two goals just 1:26 into the game after a nice end-to-end rush.
Kaid Oliver beat Rockets netminder James Porter with a power-play goal midway through the opening period to put the Royals up 2-0, before Liam Kindree beat Griffen Outhouse to cut the Royals’ lead in half.
The Royals put the game away in the second period thanks to their power play.
Hannoun and D-Jay Jerome on a 4-on-3 man advantage, scored midway through the middle frame to send the Royals to their fifth straight win.
The Rockets came to life in third, getting goals from Lassi Thomson and Lief Mattson, but Outhouse slammed the door the rest of the way.
Igor Martynov picked up two assists on the night, giving the import from Belarus six assists in his last three games. Dino Kambeitz also chipped in two assists for Victoria.
Outhouse went the distance for his fifth win, making 35 saves, while Porter stopped 19 Royals’ shots.
The Royals now trek to Kamloops, where they’ll take on the Blazers tonight.
The Blazers fell 5-3 to Portland on Friday.
After the trip to Kamloops, the Royals will head home to prepare for next weekend’s two-game set with the Vancouver Giants at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
