The Victoria Royals will be looking to go the distance after having squandered third-period leads, thanks to late penalties against, in their last two games.
The Royals [0-3-1] meet the Prince George Cougars (1-2-1) tonight in Kamloops and the Vancouver Giants (3-1 heading into a late game Monday night) on Wednesday in Kelowna in sa国际传媒 Division Western Hockey League play.
鈥淲e need a little more discipline and structure in closing out games,鈥� said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
Missing has been the tenaciously aggressive Royals penalty kill of seasons past. Victoria is last in the league in penalty-killing efficiency at 61.1 percent, allowing seven goals on 18 opposition opportunities. That鈥檚 way too much.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen that bolt-type penalty kill yet. But it will come,鈥� said Price.
It has to, and quick. The lack of success on the penalty kill is one of the reasons Victoria has the worst winning percentage to date among the 22 WHL teams.
Off-ice news, meanwhile, has taken as much of the spotlight as on-ice news, particularly with the sa国际传媒 Division game postponements caused by the COVID-19 outbreak on the Kelowna Rockets.
鈥淲e have an inward focus,鈥� said Price, about the situation.
鈥淲e know we can鈥檛 control anything out of our own team cohort, and we are being strict and thorough within our own group.鈥�
Each team in the sa国际传媒 Division will play 24 games, all in Kamloops and Kelowna, and without spectators.
