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Dave Lowry had a goal in mind heading into the final regular-season weekend against the Everett Silvertips.
鈥淚 want to see us compete, start to finish, and play a solid six periods. This is our last tune-up [before playoffs],鈥� Lowry said of his Victoria Royals鈥� matchups that began at home with a 4-1 win on Friday, followed by a gutsy 4-3 overtime win on Saturday in Everett.
鈥淔ortunately, for us, we鈥檙e locked in a spot and we have been for a while. But you want to make sure all your details and your systems are in place and everyone understands,鈥� said Lowry, looking ahead to a first-round best-of-seven series against the Kamloops Blazers that begins on the road on Friday.
鈥淲ith the injuries we鈥檝e had, different guys are playing different positions. You walk through some stuff and you spend a bit more time teaching. You want to make sure the guys playing out of position know exactly what is expected in their responsibilities.鈥�
On that injury front, the Royals confirmed Saturday that leading scorer Alex Gogolev has had surgery on a nasty cut he received weeks ago and will be lost for the rest of the year.
鈥淲e were hoping that rehab would have helped, but it started looking more and more like it would require surgery,鈥� said Royals general manager Cam Hope, who was in Everett for the final regular-season game and called colour on the radio broadcast.
He saw Michael Herringer make his first start in goal and flash 36 stops for Victoria as Coleman Vollrath was given a rest.
Joe Hicketts notched the game-winner, and Steven Hodges 鈥� who had three assists on Friday 鈥� Jack Walker and Logan Nelson also scored for Victoria on Saturday. Manraj Hayer, Stathis Soumelidis and Brayden Low replied for the Silvertips, who led 3-2 late.
The Royals finish the season with a franchise-best 35-30-2-5 record for 77 points.
鈥淵ou always want to win. The big thing we look at is, the overall picture, the process,鈥� Lowry said. 鈥淲e look at the age of our team. You take Gogolev and [Tyler] Stahl out 鈥� two 20-year-olds 鈥� and you鈥檙e a young team. ... For us, our young guys are getting their feet more than wet, and they鈥檙e doing a good job for us.鈥�
The Royals now return to celebrate their annual awards banquet this afternoon at 3 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and then get into post-season preparation for the Blazers.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see where we鈥檙e at [physically],鈥� Lowry said, when asked if the team would take Monday off or get right into it. 鈥淗ey, it鈥檚 going to be a quick turnaround. Our mindset is, if we鈥檙e fresh, we can go short [shifts] and be sharp, and if you don鈥檛 win the series, you have the rest of the summer off.鈥�
