EVERETT 3 - VICTORIA 1
Victoria Royals goaltender Campbell Arnold turned in a towering 56-save performance for his team on Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough in a 3-1 Western Hockey League loss to the Silvertips at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.
The Royals managed only 16 shots on Silvertips goaltender Koen MacInnes before 5,993 fans.
“The shot values here [Everett] are not accurate,” said Royals head coach and GM Dan Price. “But not taking anything away from a great performance. Campbell Arnold stood tall at the top of the crease for us. The net front was a storyline with the Silvertips crashing the net.”
Arnold did his best to hold one of the best major-junior teams on the continent at bay.
But with 20 regular-season games remaining, moral victories are ringing hollow for Victoria. The Royals need real ones, such as the 5-2 win Friday night over the Vancouver Giants that snapped a franchise-record 17-game winless streak.
The Canadian Hockey League No. 4-ranked Everett Silvertips (35-7-6) extended their unbeaten in-regulation-time streak to 12 games while the Royals fell to 13-30-5 overall.
Reggie Newman opened scoring for Victoria on the power play in the first period. Goals by Hunter Campbell in the first period, Caden Zaplitny in the second and Dylan Anderson in the third won it for Everett.
The worst possible outcome — a three-point game — happened in another game as the Tri-City Americans outlasted the Spokane Chiefs 4-3 in overtime. The Americans moved two points ahead of Victoria into the eighth and final playoff slot in the Western Conference. The Royals and Chiefs are tied for ninth place but the Americans and Chiefs each hold a game in hand on Victoria.
The Royals meet the Giants in a Monday matinee at the Langley Events Centre. It has been a rare happy hunting ground. Of Victoria’s 13 wins, more than half have come against Vancouver with the Royals leading the season series 7-2.
“These last two games have been as well as we have played all season,” said Price.
“We’ve used our speed and transition game and will look to continue to do that.”
