The Victoria Royals face the hard reality 鈥� trailing their WHL best-of-seven opening-round playoff series 3-1 鈥� of having to win-out against the favoured Kamloops Blazers.
They would like to make the attempt, beginning in Game 5 tonight at Kamloops, without having their goaltender Patrik Polivka touched. He appeared to be contacted on occasion by the hard-driving Kamloops forwards during Thursday night鈥檚 5-4 overtime win by Kamloops in Game 4 at Bear Mountain Arena.
That鈥檚 often a judgment call by the referees, who whistled one goaltender interference penalty against the Blazers on Thursday.
But if that鈥檚 what it takes, the Royals are indicating tit for tat.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great game plan,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry, with a hint of sarcasm.
鈥淭he rule is supposed to be called. We鈥檒l take the same page out of their book and start bumping goalies.鈥�
But one person鈥檚 bump is another person鈥檚 congestion. It鈥檚 all how you look at it.
鈥淲e got a lot of traffic to and behind the net. . . . It was a playoff goal,鈥� said Kamloops captain Dylan Willick, in describing the overtime winner that he fired from the slot over Polivka鈥檚 glove hand.
The Royals also need to be careful not to get sidetracked. The Kamloops forward contingent is indeed aggressive around the crease. But it is also highly skilled, experienced and deep.
That was evident Thursday as 20-year-old mid-season acquisition Kale Kessy 鈥� whose NHL rights were traded Friday by the Coyotes to the Oilers for those of fellow junior Tobias Rieder 鈥� recorded a hat trick. And, also, as the Blazers effectively took control of Thursday鈥檚 overtime period. It seemed only a matter of time until Kamloops would score, which it did when Willick pulled the trigger to end it at 17:47 of extra time.
鈥淲e need a level of desperation,鈥� Lowry admitted.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to win. We had an opportunity [Thursday] but let it slip away.鈥�
As potent as the Western Conference third-seed and nationally eighth-ranked Blazers are, they could have been had Thursday to tie the series 2-2. But conference sixth-seed Victoria frittered a 2-0 lead by allowing Kessy to score with just 17 seconds remaining in the first period 鈥� completely changing the tenor of the game at the first break 鈥� and later allowing the tying 4-4 goal by an unlikely source 鈥� defenceman Marek Hrbas 鈥� with 4:18 remaining in regulation time.
Hrbas beat Royals goalie Polivka, his good buddy from their hometown of Plzen in the Czech Republic.
Still, the Blazers are wary of a Royals team that is better than the Victoria side that Kamloops swept away with relative ease 4-0 in last year鈥檚 opening round of the playoffs.
鈥淭hey are a resilient team and are making it tough on us,鈥� Willick said.
The Kamloops captain noted all four games in the series have essentially been one-goal games, the only exception being a two-goal game in which Willick provided an empty-net goal for insurance.
鈥淰ictoria has been in every single game and made it a very difficult series for us,鈥� he said.
The Blazers鈥� game plan for tonight is simple 鈥� don鈥檛 leave it to a late-game tying goal and overtime winner like Thursday at the Bear.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get home-ice advantage to kick in right away and put them away early,鈥� Willick said.
Victoria, meanwhile, knows what it needs in order to force a potential Game 6 Monday at Bear Mountain.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to put [Thursday鈥檚 overtime loss] behind us,鈥� said Logan Nelson, the Buffalo Sabres draft pick, who had a goal and assist in Game 4.
鈥淲e have to stick to our game plan, which is to play a simple game.鈥�
The season is riding on it.
ICE CHIPS: Victoria鈥檚 Brandon Magee, a highly useful veteran forward, missed Thursday鈥檚 game with an upper-body injury.
