Not that the Royals are taking the two-game set against the Giants 鈥� tonight at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver and Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre 鈥� lightly.
鈥淸The Giants] gave Kelowna and Prince George some good games recently,鈥� warned Victoria head coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淭hey are still playing hard.鈥�
But Vancouver (23-35-8) is winless in its last five games, with four losses, and has lost 11 of its last 14 games. Injured star forward Tyler Benson, projected for the first round of the 2016 NHL draft, returned from long-term injury briefly for two games, but is now out again for the rest of the season. Leading-scorer Chase Lang, from Nanaimo, has been out the last three games due to injury. It鈥檚 been that kind of year for the Giants, who have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
It鈥檚 been another kind of season altogether for cross-strait rival Victoria (43-16-6), which is on a six-game winning streak and is first in the WHL in points and second behind Kelowna in winning percentage. The Royals are ranked No. 6 in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll, the highest rating for any WHL team. They are the winningest team in the WHL since Jan. 1 at 20-4-3.
The Royals had a bit of a schedule break, following the 6-1 Hooky Hockey victory over the Oil Kings before more than 12,000 screeching school kids Monday morning in Edmonton, and used it for some R and R in Jasper this week before heading down to Vancouver.
鈥淚t鈥檚 rare to have a break this late in the season and it was very good and will pay dividends,鈥� said Lowry. 鈥淲e had a heavy schedule in February, and travel takes its toll, so this was a good lull in the schedule for us.鈥�
But it鈥檚 back to work tonight.
This is a group, not big on stars but long on hustle and discipline, that needs little prodding for that, noted their bench boss.
鈥淭he guys, especially the leaders in our room, are on it themselves,鈥� said Lowry.
Victoria rookie Griffen Outhouse was named WHL goaltender of the month for February even though veteran Coleman Vollrath started and won the last five games for Victoria in that month.
Lowry addressed the quirk, by saying Thursday: 鈥淏oth guys will see the net [over the final seven regular-season games].鈥�
These final seven games will present a dramatic backdrop, not only for the franchise鈥檚 drive to win its first league regular-season championship, but also its bid to set a team record. It is only the second time the franchise has reached the 40-win plateau in the 10-season history of the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals. But there鈥檚 not much wriggle room remaining over the final seven games because these Royals need five wins to tie, and six to break, the all-time franchise record of 48 victories established by Lowry鈥檚 2013-14 Royals.
