Red-hot Blazers roll over reeling Royals
KAMLOOPS 6 VICTORIA 1
Is there a bottom in sight? It just keeps getting worse for the Victoria Royals, who have yet to win in 2022, and whose Western Hockey League winless streak extended to 10 games with a 6-1 loss while being outshot 50-11 Friday night in Kamloops against the Blazers.
“I’m not saying the Blazers didn’t deserve to win the game, but there were some weird early bounces as Kamloops scored their first three goals on five shots and it wasn’t all [starting goaltender] Campbell Arnold’s fault,” said Royals head coach and GM Dan Price.
The Kamloops Blazers (26-11-1) extended their win streak to four games with the dominating performance before 2,808 fans at the Sandman Centre. The Blazers are ranked No. 10 in the Canadian Hockey League top-10 poll, which has the WHL commanding the top-three spots with the Winnipeg Ice, Edmonton Oil Kings and Everett Silvertips and the Portland Winterhawks thrown in at No. 7.
The Royals (12-22-5) are a galaxy away from that level and are simply fighting for their lives. The Island side is 0-6-1 against the Blazers this season.
Luke Toporowski scored twice for the Blazers and has six goals and seven points in the four games since being sent midway through his fifth season with the Spokane Chiefs to Kamloops in a WHL deadline trade this month. Dallas Stars-signed second-round NHL draft pick and Canadian junior national team forward Logan Stankoven had a goal and two assists for Kamloops.
Keanu Derungs scored his 11th goal of the season for the Royals.
The Blazers’ Canadian world junior team goaltender Dylan Garand, a Langford product and New York Rangers-signed prospect, had an easy night of it in making just 10 saves to record his league-leading 21st victory of the season while pushing his goalsagainst average to below 2.00.
The only upside on the night for Victoria is that the Everett Silvertips beat Tri-City 3-0 to keep the Royals one point ahead of the Americans in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference although Tri-City retains three games in hand.
The Royals will play their 10th game in 16 days when they meet the Blazers again tonight in Kamloops.
“We were definitely feeling the fatigue tonight,” said Price. “I told the guys we just have to empty the tank [tonight in the second game of the set].”