Beginning with his emergence in last year鈥檚 first-round playoff series, Vancouver Giants defenceman Bowen Byram has become a player Victoria Royals fans have learned to fear.
With good cause.
Byram scored three goals and added three assists with a plus-6 rating in two games over the weekend at the Langley Events Centre, including the opening goal in Sunday鈥檚 3-2 victory over the Royals, in being named Western Hockey League player of the week.
The Cranbrook native has gone from being the third overall selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft to a projected first-round lottery pick for the 2019 NHL draft in June, which will be held across town from Langley at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
鈥淸Byram] plays a very good 200-foot game,鈥� said Royals head head coach Dan Price, who must plot against him 10 times a season.
鈥淗e jumps in from the blue line but it also very good in his own end.鈥�
The six-foot rearguard displayed all that in setting a Giants franchise record with five points in a game with two goals and three assists on Saturday night in a 7-4 victory over the Kamloops Blazers.
Byram鈥檚 opening goal Sunday against Victoria began a spree of blue-line scoring as both Royals goals came from defencemen Jameson Murray and Scott Walford, the latter on the power play. Byram has 13 goals on the season, Walford five and Murray three.
Forwards Tristen Nielsen and Davis Koch, with Byram, gave Vancouver a 3-1 lead by 13:12 of the third period in front of 3,788 announced fans before Montreal Canadiens third-round draft pick Walford brought the Royals back to within one at 16:59, but Victoria could not find the equalizer.
The Royals (22-17-1) are again finding how quickly fortunes can shift in sports, with a four-game winning streak now followed by a two-game losing skid. The latter defeats were a 3-0 loss Saturday on Blanshard Street against Western Conference-leading Everett following the Sunday setback in Langley against the sa国际传媒 Division-leading Giants (26-12-2) and concluded a stretch in which the Royals played three games in a row and four games in five days.
The Royals face another three games in succession beginning Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre against Tim Hunter鈥檚 Moose Jaw Warriors (21-11-7) before a Puget Sound excursion to play the Seattle Thunderbirds (15-21-4) in Kent, Washington, on Saturday night and the big and talented Silvertips (33-9-2) in Everett on Sunday.
鈥淲e need to use rest as a weapon,鈥� said Price, who gave his charges Monday and Tuesday off.
鈥淎nd need to use the full depth of our bench.鈥�
Price is wary not to wear out 20-year-old starting goaltender Griffen Outhouse and gave rookie Brock Gould the start Sunday in Langley. Gould made 24 saves and David Tendeck 19 saves for Vancouver.
鈥淏rock was excellent [Sunday]. He gave us a chance to win, just as Griffen does every night he plays,鈥� said Price. 鈥淥ur depth extends to goaltending, too, and how we share the load.鈥�
Both the losses to Everett and Vancouver were one-goal games heading into the third periods against top-tier teams. Those are moral victories but not real ones. The Royals need to take that next step if they are going to compete against the best teams and not be content with being at the top of the second tier in the conference.
Lacking big-name star power such as Byram, the Royals will have to continue to rely on their relentless approach to the game, which has got them into second place so far in the sa国际传媒 Division.
鈥淭hings are starting to ramp up and you can feel it,鈥� said Price.
鈥淭he weekend featured an incredible level of physicality and tight checking and we had to fight for every bit of ice.鈥�
That won鈥檛 change heading into the stretch drive.
