SPOKANE 4 - VICTORIA 2
That crashing sound on Blanshard Street was the Victoria Royals’ season coming down in a heap Saturday night.
The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Royals 4-2 before 4,663 subdued fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in the final and deciding regular-season game to capture a WHL playoff berth while eliminating Victoria.
The Royals will miss the playoffs in a normal season for the first time since the franchise came to the Island in 2011-12. The only two teams to have made the post-season in each year in that stretch are now the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks.
The Royals got off to a slow start in disastrous first period in which goals by Reed Jacobson, Ty Cheveldayoff and Cade Hayes gave Spokane a 3-1 lead with the only Royals answer by Anthony Wilson.
An adage of hockey is that the most dangerous lead is two goals and that the next goal in that situation is pivotal either way. The Chiefs weathered a Victoria push in the second period to get that all-important three-goal lead through Raegan Wiles at 17:55.
Graduating Victoria captain Tarun Fizer concluded his Royals career as the seventh-leading scorer in franchise history by bringing the Royals back to within two at 7:24 of the third period. The Royals pressed gamely, hitting posts and throwing everything they had at the Chiefs, but there was nothing more in it for them as the Chiefs were jubilant and the Royals crestfallen as the final buzzer sounded.
The Victoria goaltending, so resolute and outstanding in carrying the team for much of the season, suddenly began fighting the puck down the stretch. Tyler Palmer finished with 23 saves for the Royals. Mason Beaupit was stout in making 32 saves for Spokane.
The Royals overcame a horrendous and injury-riddled start to the season to make a push in a season of swings. But it wasn’t enough as they are on the outside looking in.
“I am incredibly proud of the team,” said Royals head coach and GM Dan Price. “It is the most adversity I’ve seen a team experience with the injuries and COVID protocols. To be within one point of making the playoffs on the last day – that’s almost impossible to do. I thought we played well enough to win.”
