The Victoria Royals played the host Portland Winterhawks tough Friday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but tough was not enough, against the Canadian Hockey League No. 5 ranked ΚΌHawks. Portland snapped an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak in a 3-1 victory.
The Winterhawks, one of the most successful franchises in Western Hockey League history and the winningest over the past decade with a .676 win percentage entering this season, moved to 18-4-2 atop the Western Conference. There have been 24 Winterhawks selected in the NHL draft over the last decade and 18 Portland alumni played in the NHL last season.
The reeling Royals fell to 3-19-3 after losing all six games of their recent homestand and now with only one point in their last 10 games. Yet the game hung in the balance heading into the final period with Victoria leading 1-0 after the first period and the game tied 1-1 following the second.
Victoria scored first for only the seventh time this season as Carter Dereniwsky counted early at 2:42 of the first period with his fourth of the season. Jack O’Brien levelled for Portland at 27 seconds of the second period. Gabe Klassen got the winner at 3:28 of the third period on the power play with blue-liner Luca Cagnoni, ranked for the second-to-third rounds of the 2023 NHL draft, drawing the first assist on the set up. Ryder Thompson, on another Winterhawks power play, scored at 4:49 as the Royals’ sometimes lack of discipline and inopportune penalties came back to haunt.
Victoria’s power play, a rare bright spot this season, was held to 0-5. The Winterhawks went 2-5.
With goaltender Tyler Palmer away without explanation amid speculation he has asked for a trade — the Royals have listed it vaguely as a “personal leave” — the team traded Monday for goalie Nicholas Cristiano from the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 WHL prospects draft. The six-foot-one Cristiano, 18, was given his second consecutive start and made 25 saves. He began the season on loan with the West Kelowna Warriors of the B.C. Hockey League.
The 2023 NHL draft-ranked Jan Spunar, U-18 and U-20 goaltender for the Czech Republic, made 29 stops for Portland.
The Royals continue their double dip below the border tonight in Seattle against the WHL Western Conference second-place and CHL major-junior third-ranked Thunderbirds (16-4-1).
ICE CHIPS: The Royals were missing import forward Marcus Almquist to representing Denmark in the IIHF world Div. 1 junior championship Dec. 11-17 in Asker, Norway.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
