KAMLOOPS 4 VICTORIA 3 (OT)
It was Langford鈥檚 Dylan Garand with the crease pedigree for the undefeated Kamloops Blazers (4-0). But it was Adam Evanoff with the heroics to earn the Victoria Royals (0-3-1) their first point of the Western Hockey League season.
Evanoff faced 52 shots in the Victoria nets in a 4-3 Kamloops overtime win. The touted Garand, the New York Rangers fourth-round draft pick and Canadian world junior championship silver medallist, faced only 19 shots.
鈥淎dam is such a warrior,鈥� Royals GM and head coach Dan Price said of the AHL Stockton-signed pro Evanoff.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been trying to find his groove and he found it tonight.鈥�
Logan Stankoven鈥檚 second goal, on his fourth point of the night, at 1:39 of overtime gave Kamloops the come-from-behind victory. Hometown Kamloops-product Stankoven, soon to be playing for sa国际传媒 in the U-18 world championship, showed why he is projected for the second or third rounds of the 2021 NHL draft.
It was the Brayden Show to start for the Royals. Rookie Brayden Schuurman scored his first two career WHL goals, both assisted by Anaheim Ducks first-round NHL draft pick Brayden Tracey, to stake Victoria to the lead.
鈥淸Schuurman] has things to work and improve on, of course, but he is turning into a balanced player with a 200-foot-game,鈥� said Price.
Kamloops levelled 2-2 through Orrin Centazzo on the power play and Stankoven before the first period concluded.
Veteran Ty Yoder, with his first of the season, gave Victoria the 3-2 lead at 9:54 of the second period. Josh Pillar tied it at 14:39 of the third period on a two-man Kamloops power play.
鈥淚 liked our puck management in the first two periods,鈥� said Price.
鈥淭he other story of the game was special teams with Kamloops having a 5-0 power-play opportunities advantage.鈥�
The Blazers scored on two of those chances.
The game was rescheduled from Thursday. Victoria was originally scheduled to play the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday, but the schedule was thrown into disarray as nine Rockets games have been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among four Kelowna players and three staff members. Team activities for the Rockets have been suspended for a minimum of 14 days through April 14.
鈥淚t was not bad. We got a few extra days of rest,鈥� said Royals captain Tarun Fizer.
鈥淒an [Price] told us to keep the vibes positive.鈥�
