Nine was fine for the Victoria Royals and especially for Jake Poole. The former Kelowna Rockets forward had two assists against his old club as the Royals scored four unanswered third-period goals Wednesday night to defeat Kelowna 5-2 to win for the first time this Western Hockey League season in nine attempts.
Revenge points are the best kind and Poole also had an assist on Victoria’s goal in the 2-1 overtime loss to the Rockets on Tuesday night that earned the Royals their first point of the season in the standings.
The Royals, to state the brutal but obvious, don’t have the sheer talent of most other teams in the league. But they seem to have found a philosophy that works for them — gum up the works in the middle for the opposition through pressure and tight positional checking. It’s the only way the Royals are going to be competitive and this unit realizes that and has bought into GM and head coach Dan Price’s approach and is growing into it. Victoria’s last three games have hung in the balance well into the third period. It will be a matter of nicking a point or two in those kinds of contests. And as sparse as the crowds have been at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in the early season, few fans ever complain about a hard-working team.
Goaltender Tyler Palmer, the Victoria crease warhorse, was again there when needed with 40 saves.
“This feels amazing, obviously. It’s been a rough early going,” said Palmer.
“But we are focusing on fundamental stuff and making simple plays. Now we’re clicking and it’s working really well.”
Palmer’s biggest save was on a breakaway in the third period by Kelowna captain Colton Dach with the score tied 2-2. Dach, in his second game back from the NHL training camp of the Chicago Blackhawks and under strong consideration for sa国际传媒’s team to the 2023 world junior championship, moved to his right but Palmer was right there to parry the effort.
“That was the key save,” said Palmer.
“It was about mentally staying in the game.”
Nolan Flamand’s first two goals of the season for Kelowna sandwiched Tanner Scott’s second goal of the season, all in the second period, to give the Rockets a 2-1 lead. Matthew Hodson scored twice in the third period and Teague Patton and defenceman Luke Shipley once each, the latter a long shot into an empty net. Riley Gannon had two assists for Victoria.
Nicholas Cristiano, an 18-year-old appearing in his fourth career WHL game, made 25 saves in goal for the Rockets.
The Royals host the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night as the middle contest of a five-game homestand that continues Tuesday against the Canadian Hockey League top-ranked Winnipeg Ice and NHL first-round draft picks Matthew Savoie, Conor Geekie and Carson Lambos. Those will be the first games in Victoria by Eastern Conference teams since before the pandemic. A more familiar foe, the Vancouver Giants, come to Blanshard Street on Oct. 22 to close out the homestand.
