TRI CITY 4
VICTORIA 3
If offered somehow magically beforehand, the Victoria Royals probably would have found a .500 record acceptable on their expansive five-game road trip, from Prince George to Oregon and eastern Washington.
That鈥檚 how it ended up, at 2-2-1, following Saturday night鈥檚 4-3 loss to the Tri City Americans before 5,096 fans at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. 鈥淲e鈥檒l take it [an even record on the road trip],鈥� said Victoria coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淲e went into some tough buildings and played good teams without some of our key players. Our young guys got experience in the battle. We know we need to get better and we will get better.鈥�
The Americans鈥� powerplay proved decisive, going 3-5 on Saturday, while Victoria was fruitless in four extra-man opportunities.
鈥淭he special teams were key,鈥� Lowry said.
First-period goals by Tyler Sandhu and on the odd-man by Morgan Geekie staked the Americans to a 2-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old. Matthew Phillips later in the first, with his team-leading 23rd on a penalty shot, and Regan Nagy pulled Victoria (16-14-3) level by 2:57 of the second period. Geekie鈥檚 second power-play goal of the game gave Tri City a 3-2 lead at 8:05 of the second. The Tri City 20-year-old captain Sandhu, on a four-point night, scored his second goal in the third period and that proved to be the winner on the power play. Jack Walker of Victoria closed out scoring.
The Royals played a Tri City club (19-11-3) boasting defenceman Juuso Valimaki from Finland, ranked 11th by Sportsnet for the 2017 NHL draft, and who had two assists Saturday.
The Americans also have a couple of Island players. Forward Jordan Topping from Salt Spring Island, a Cowichan Valley Capitals product, is back with Tri-City after missing 29 games due to a lower-body injury incurred while in Dallas Stars training camp. Six-foot-one, 19-year-old Topping scored 33 goals and added 34 assists last year for the Americans and has two goals and two assists for four points in his first four games back for Tri City this season. The Americans鈥� undrafted, but mobile, blueliner Dylan Coghlan is from Nanaimo and attended Detroit Red Wings camp this fall as a free-agent. Coghlan had an assist Saturday to up his season total to 23 points.
The Royals continued light on the blueline with Scott Walford injured and captain Ryan Gagnon sitting out the third game of a four-game suspension.
The Royals return home for a three-game homestand, starting Tuesday against Portland.
