The Victoria Royals rallied from a three-goal deficit in the final eight minutes and 36 seconds of the third period, and then got the winning goal in overtime by defenceman Nate Misskey, to record a death-defying 5-4 Western Hockey League victory over the Spokane Chiefs on Friday night.
Dawson Pasternak, on a three-point night, found the tying 4-4 goal through a maze at 18:24 of the third period as Victoria battled back from 4-1 down.
“It displayed great character to show we can come back,” said Pasternak.
“We’ve come together as a team and are playing our hearts out every game.”
For the second consecutive game the Royals faced a first overall WHL prospects draft pick, Gavin McKenna from 2022 followed by Berkly Catton from 2021. The Royals held McKenna, already touted as the top NHL draft pick for 2026, pointless Tuesday in a 4-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. Catton, ranked between fourth and sixth overall for the 2024 NHL draft depending on source, fared only a bit better with an assist for the Chiefs before 3,001 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The Royals (5-5) won for the third consecutive game and have five wins in their last six games after starting the season with four consecutive losses.
It seemed the Royals were still in warm-ups to start the game, however, outshot 10-2 and down 3-0 before the game was even seven minutes old. That was it for starting goaltender Braden Holt, replaced by Jayden Kraus, although Holt could hardly be blamed for the early siege on the Victoria crease.
Sophomore-import Robin Sapousek’s goal — the sixth of the season for the Czech world junior championship silver medallist — got Victoria on the board at 10:37 of the first period. But the Royals’ power play went cold after that in eight consecutive opportunities before Ben Riche counted again on the odd-man for Victoria in the third period.
A key aspect of the Royals’ game was the penalty kill, which not only held Spokane to 0-5 including a five-minute major, but also scored a short-handed goal through NHL Arizona Coyotes-drafted blueliner Justin Kipkie.
Rookie Cole Reschny, 16, had three assists for Victoria. It was a notable and emotive game for Royals forward Grady Lane, acquired over the off-season, after playing three seasons for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs (4-3-1) and Victoria meet again tonight to conclude a five-game homestand for the Royals, who are in Kelowna on Wednesday night to play the Rockets.
