Royals run into roadblock

Revenge was definitely on the minds of the Victoria Royals on Saturday as they rolled into the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge, but instead the result will leave another bad memory.

Just 11 days earlier, the Hurricanes blew through the Royals 10-4 in Western Hockey League play in Victoria, scoring six power-play goals along the way in the lopsided victory. On Saturday, the Hurricanes used an early short-handed breakaway goal to record a 4-1 victory before 4,754 fans.

Jake Elmer scored his first of two goals on the night, while skating a man short just 6:23 into the game, which caused a long delay on teddy bears and toques toss night that saw stuffed animals and winter gear shower on to the ice.

Elmer added his second at 1:29 of the second period before Ty Prefontaine upped the home side’s advantage to 3-0, 13 minutes later.

Dante Hannoun recorded the lone Victoria goal to cut it to 3-1 at 2:49 of the third as 16-year-old call-up Tyus Gent recorded an assist. But Prefontaine added an empty-net goal for his second of the evening, with 2:04 to go.

The Royals, playing their fourth game in five nights on the road, mustered little offence early and were outshot 44-31 overall and 23-11 in the decisive second period.

Victoria now slips to 18-10-3-0 as they finished the trip 0-2-2-0 and are now winless in four games, with just two overtime losses to show for their most recent journey. The Hurricanes improve to 12-13-1-0.

“It’ll be good to get back home, get some rest and prepare for Kootenay and Prince George,” said Royals head coach Dan Price. “I thought there were four competitive games [on the road] and lots to take away, but you definitely want more than just two points.

“The chances were there at times,” he said of Saturday’s result. “Their short-handed goal bounced off one of the officials, so it was a lucky break that they capitalized on. We felt in the first period that we had as many good chances, if not more, than Lethbridge did.

“Unfortunately, they capitalized on the [short-handed] breakaway and ours didn’t go in,” added Price. “I was proud of the fact the guys went for it and threw everything they could in the third period.”

The second period was a costly one for the tired Royals, who did out-shoot Lethbridge 12-10 in the third.

“The guys were tired, for sure, but that’s never going to be an excuse. You always have to bring your best and I thought they did that in the third period and gave every ounce of energy,” said Price, whose team will now have two days off before preparing for the week.

Hurricanes goaltender Stuart Skinner, an Edmonton Oilers draft pick, made 30 saves for the hosts, while Griffen Outhouse, the busiest goalie in the Western Hockey League, faced 43 shots in the Victoria net.

The Royals now return home on Friday to play host to the Kootenay Ice in the annual teddy bear toss game at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.