Royals take playoff opener
Victoria Royals left-winger Alex Forsberg tries to manoeuvre the puck past Spokane Chiefs goaltender Lasse Petersen in Game 1 of their best-ofseven, opening-round Western Hockey League playoff series at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night. Forsberg didn’t score but captain Tyler Soy got two goals on the way to a 5-3 Royals victory. The Royals are chasing the ultimate prize in the WHL — the Ed Chynoweth Cup, awarded to the league’s playoff champion. The Royals won the WHL regular-season title, racking up 50 wins, 16 losses and six ties.
Picking up right where they left off in the regular season, the Victoria Royals struck first in their best-of-seven Western Conference opening playoff series with a 5-3 win against the Spokane Chiefs at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night.
Game 2 goes tonight at 7:05 at the Barn on Blanshard before the series moves to Spokane for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Having won 13 straight overall coming into the night — and 13 consecutive at home — the Royals dispatched the Chiefs thanks to a third-period goal from Logan Fisher that snapped a 2-2 draw as he deflected a Joe Hicketts slap shot from the point at 5:58.
Victoria has dominated the opposition at home with 19 straight games without a loss in regulation. In fact, the last time the Royals let a home game slip away in regulation was Dec. 13, dropping a 4-2 decision to Vancouver.
They had to grind this one out with three third-period goals as their best players turned in solid performances.
“We knew they were going to come and work hard and hit,” said Hicketts, who finished with a goal and two assists. “We expected a tough game. I think that’s the best thing about playoffs: Every game is going to be a battle.”
Tyler Soy opened the scoring — his first of two on the night — on a fine dangle, going wide around defenceman Evan Fiala, kicking the puck up to his stick and lifting it high, glove-side on Lasse Petersen at 14:51 of the first period.
“It’s something that’s been instilled in us: Use our speed,” said Soy, who added an empty-netter to make it 5-2. He also hit a post and was robbed twice by Petersen.
“I just tried to get by him, get to the net — and I was lucky to get a nice bounce there.
“It was a grindy game. They’re a good team and they fought right to the end. It’s what we expected and we expect that moving forward. It was good to get that early lead, but we can’t let them back in it in the third,” added Soy.
Keanu Yamamoto tied it 1-1 at 5:24 of the second period as he snapped the puck by Royals goalie Coleman Vollrath from the high slot with Jaret Anderson-Dolan causing a ruckus in front with a screen.
Hicketts got it back at 9:16 on a slapper that beat Petersen on the short side midway through the second.
The Royals killed off a full two minutes of 5-on-3 late in the middle period, but Hudson Elynuik tapped in a rebound with a backhand with the man advantage just 44 seconds into the third.
Fisher’s goal snapped the deadlock and Dante Hannoun added the fourth on the power play on a snazzy snap shot, short side, at 11:59 for the hosts before a crowd of 6,211.
“Playoff hockey — that’s what we expected,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry. “We expected a hard-fought game and that’s the way it’s going to be every game from here on in. They’re going to go right to the end.”
Hayden Ostir added a late one at 19:07 for Spokane.