Dillon Dub茅, Kole Lind and Cal Foote of the Kelowna Rockets are considered future NHLers. But they were shut down tighter than a bank on the long weekend by the Tri-City Americans in a first-round playoff sweep.
Look no further than that to understand why the injury-depleted Victoria Royals are going to need more diversification of offensive output, in the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs against the Americans, than they got in the seven-game opening round against the Vancouver Giants.
Royals captain Matthew Phillips has either scored or assisted on 10 of Victoria鈥檚 last 11聽goals. The Royals鈥� current first line of Phillips, Dante Hannoun and Noah Gregor has a combined 38 points in the playoffs.
The rest of the roster has a combined 30 points. (And six of those came from injured forwards Tyler Soy and Tanner Kaspick in the combined two games and a bit they played against the Giants.)
鈥淧hillips is a special player. But like we did with Dub茅 in the first round, we [aim] to get in his face and give him no space,鈥� Americans defenceman Dylan Coghlan said.
鈥淚t was a team effort to play hard against Kelowna鈥檚 top guys 鈥� we gave them no space,鈥� added聽the Nanaimo product, who is under NHL contract to the Las聽Vegas Golden Knights.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to keep an eye on Victoria鈥檚 top three guys. If you don鈥檛 watch them, they are dangerous.鈥�
Twelve of Victoria鈥檚 player points against the Giants came from defencemen Jared Freadrich, Kade Jensen and Ralph Jarratt, so blueline production is not an issue.
Royals forward Lane Zablocki scored in Tuesday鈥檚 4-3 Game 7 victory over the Giants and agreed more of that is needed from the lower three forward lines. 鈥淎bsolutely, we need to get secondary scoring. That will be huge for us because it takes the pressure off our top guys,鈥� said the third-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings.
Royals head coach Dan Price, however, disputed the notion his offence is one dimensional without injured all-time franchise scoring-leader Soy and St. Louis Blues-signed Kaspick, his top two centres when not on the shelf.
鈥淵ou have to look at everything you measure offence by 鈥� including scoring chances and puck time in the offensive zone. All our lines have had scoring chances and have had a lot of puck time,鈥� Price said.
The second Island product on the Americans is forward Jordan Topping from Salt Spring Island, who came out of the Cowichan Valley youth hockey system and had 38 goals in the regular season for Tri-City. He said the key in the first round was stealing both the first two games in Kelowna.
鈥淕etting a good start on the road is crucial for us again,鈥� Topping said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e deep with a lot of guys who can play.鈥�
The Americans are indeed that. Their roster boasts Coghlan, Topping and NHL first-round draft picks Michael Rasmussen, ninth overall to the Red Wings, defenceman Juuso Valimaki, 16th overall to the Calgary Flames, and Canadian world junior gold-medallist blueliner Jake Bean, 13th overall to the Carolina Hurricanes.
There is also third-round Hurricanes selection Morgan Geekie, who was on fire with nine goals and 13 points in the four playoff games against the Rockets, and fourth-round Anaheim Ducks pick Kyle Olson.
鈥淭ri-City is physical and large聽and their power play is a big聽strength,鈥� said Royals captain聽Phillips.
The Americans were seven-for-13 against Kelowna on the odd-man for a blistering 53.8 per cent. You cannot afford to take penalties against a team with such high-end talent that it is scoring on more than half its power-play chances.
Lost, however, amid the hubbub and emotional excitement of the Victoria鈥檚 Game 7 victory over the Giants, was the fact that the Royals recorded a rarity in hockey by not having a penalty called against them. That was while still playing an aggressive, grinding game.
The 鈥淒鈥� word was heard often during the Royals鈥� practice on Thursday.
鈥淲e want to be the most disciplined team,鈥� said Royals forward Gregor, a fourth-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks.
Bench-boss Price also picked up on the discipline angle: 鈥淥ur players are proud of how they played a penalty-free game while also playing tough. That鈥檚 important because special teams are going to be a big factor in the series against Tri-City.鈥�
Victoria has had just a two-day turnaround to face the well-rested Americans, who have not played since sweeping Kelowna on March 29.
鈥淥ur mood is up and we want to keep the momentum going,鈥� said Gregor, adding the Royals can鈥檛 wait to hit the ice again.
Phillips noted: 鈥淭ri-City had to travel while we stayed home.鈥�
Meanwhile, Kaspick skated in a yellow no-hit jersey during practice Thursday. Forwards Soy and Dino Kambeitz and defenceman Scott Walford, a third-round Montreal Canadiens draft pick, did not skate.
The third and fourth games are Tuesday and Wednesday in Kennewick, Washington.
The Americans were picked by many in the pre-season to win the Western Conference. Tri-City, however, suffered through long stretches of injuries to key players, and performed well below expectation in the regular season. But their 85 points was still better than Victoria鈥檚 84.
The Royals get home-ice advantage in the series because they were seeded higher in the sa国际传媒 Division at No. 2; the wildcard Americans were at No. 4 in the much deeper U.S. Division.
Including playoffs, the Americans have won 10 of their last 11聽games.
鈥淲e had a lot of injuries in the regular season, but it鈥檚 coming together for us at the right time,鈥� said Topping. Like Coghlan, he鈥檒l have plenty of support among friends and family in the Memorial Centre this weekend.
