VICTORIA 6
KAMLOOPS 3
It never hurts to haul out the well-worn 1980s John Hughes/Molly Ringwald/Brat Pack reference once a year: The Victoria Royals were again Pretty in Pink on Saturday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in a 6-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers.
The annual Pink in the Rink Night, to raise funds for breast cancer research, is the Western Hockey League club鈥檚 biggest yearly promotion and all 7,006 tickets were sold in support of it. It was the Royals鈥� fourth consecutive Pink Night victory and fourth in the five years the franchise has been in Victoria.
What the throng saw was the winningest team in the WHL in the calendar year 2016 as the Royals are 17-4-3 since Jan. 1. Victoria moved to a league best 40-16-6 overall in terms of points and second-best in winning percentage behind Kelowna. It is only the second time the franchise has reached the 40-win plateau in the 10-season history of the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great feeling when people were counting you out at the start of the season . . . to be winning games people aren鈥檛 expecting you to win . . . and proving people wrong,鈥� said Victoria forward Tyler Soy, who had four points on the night.
鈥淲e have confidence in our room that we can keep this going.鈥�
Victoria won for the third consecutive game and swept the Blazers (27-24-8) in the two-game set on Blanshard to win the season series 6-2.
It didn鈥檛 take the Royals long to stamp their imprint on the game, with import forward Vladimir Bobylev scoring on Victoria鈥檚 first shot at 27 seconds with his first of two goals on a three-point night.
鈥淲e played fast and aggressive,鈥� said Bobylev, who was playing in front of his dad, Sasha Alexander, visiting from Russia on the Royals鈥� parents weekend.
Soy, on a short-handed breakaway for his team-leading 34th goal of the season, Jack Walker, on a power-play bank shot, Dante Hannoun, and Matthew Phillips on the power play scored Victoria鈥檚 other goals. Phillips鈥� goal was his 32nd to tie former Bruin and current KHLer Oscar Moller鈥檚 record for the most by a rookie in Chilliwack/Victoria franchise history.
Walker had two points and blueliner Joe Hicketts two assists. Captain Matt Needham, on the power play, Spencer Bast and Matthew Campese scored for Kamloops.
Coleman Vollrath made 30 saves in goal for Victoria while Dylan Ferguson blocked 35 for Kamloops.
It was the ninth victory in a row at home for Victoria. But the Royals now leave the warm embrace of the Memorial Centre for the road, beginning Friday in Calgary against the Hitmen and continuing next Saturday in Red Deer against the Rebels, Feb. 29 in Edmonton against the Oil Kings and March 4 in Vancouver against the Giants.
The next home date is March 5 on Blanshard against the Giants.
