With apologies to the 1980s Mel Gibson film, the year of living dangerously continued for the Victoria Royals.
Victoria, in a Western Hockey League season of swings, has followed up a five-game winning streak with now a two-game losing skid with Saturday night’s 5-0 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna.
The Price was not right for the Royals. Not only were they without captain Tarun Fizer, sitting out of the first game of a three-game suspension, but head coach Dan Price was also out due to COVID protocol.
“Kelowna played exceptionally well and we were always chasing,” said Price, who monitored the game online, while assistant coach J.F. Best handled the in-rink bench duties.
The Rockets are led by the trio of Chicago Blackhawks second-round NHL draft pick Colton Dach, Pavel Novak, a fifth-round NHL draft selection of the Minnesota Wild who has twice represented the Czech Republic in the world junior championship, and 16-year-old rookie Andrew Cristall. All three scored for the Rockets on Saturday.
Cristall, part of the touted 2023 NHL draft class from sa国际传媒 that includes Connor Bedard of the WHL Regina Pats and Matthew Wood of the BCHL Victoria Grizzlies, recorded his 24th goal of the season for the Rockets, Novak his 27th and Dach his 25th.
Jari Kykkanen recorded the 15-save shutout. Tyler Palmer made 33 saves in goal for Victoria.
“Our puck support could have been better, and that’s why our shot volume was down,” said Price.
The season series is 10-3 from Kelowna’s perspective. From Victoria’s viewpoint, the season series is 3-6-4 with four of those Kelowna victories recorded in overtime or shootout.
The Rockets (37-19-6) are among five Western Conference teams to have clinched a playoff berth, along with Everett, Kamloops, Portland and Seattle.
