The Kamloops Blazers made their first trip of the season to Vancouver Island this past weekend. Riding a five-game winning streak into Victoria, the Blazers renewed hostilities with their divisional rivals who they had not seen since last season’s six-game playoff series. While both teams underwent considerable personnel change, the animosity carried over from that bizarre game 208 days ago that ended the Blazers’ season.
As it was during their first-round match up last spring, the Royals made physical play a top priority against the Blazers who entered Friday as one of the highest-scoring teams in the WHL, and it may have slowed them down just enough.
While the Blazers extended their overall winning streak to six games on Friday night, Victoria got revenge the following evening with a 2-1 victory of their own. Including a pair of fights in Friday night’s tilt, the Blazers had a slight edge on special teams, scoring on one of their two power play opportunities while going a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Kamloops’ only lineup change for Saturday night’s game was replacing defenceman Ethan Brandwood with Trevor Thurston. Thurston, who has been fighting for a spot on the Blazers’ bottom pairing, made it just 2:01 into the game before taking a kneeing major and game misconduct. Kamloops managed to kill off the five-minute powerplay, but the league’s top-ranked penalty kill finally met its match later in the period. After 19 consecutive penalty kills, Royals’ defenceman Will Warm fired a seeing-eye shot past Dylan Garand that held up as the eventual game-winner.
Saturday night’s game was a milestone night for Royals’ head equipment manager Matt Auerbach who was working his 1000th career regular-season game in the WHL. Thanks to an outstanding performance by Victoria goaltender Shane Farkas who stopped 34 of 35 shots, the Royals were able to put the icing on top a special evening for Auerbach and his family.
For a recap of both games, DUBNetwork’s Ryan Sinclair has you covered for Friday and Saturday.
Streaks, Stats and Standings
After splitting the two-game series with the Royals, Kamloops still remains atop the B.C. Division with a three-point lead on Kelowna and Vancouver.
Connor Zary extended his point streak to 18 consecutive regular-season games after collecting an assist on Ryan Hughes’ power-play goal on Friday. Dating back to March 9th, the draft-eligible forward had put up 31 points before getting blanked by Farkas the following night. Recording one assist across the weekend games, Zary maintained his position as the WHL’s point-leader with a one-point cushion on Spokane’s Adam Beckman.
Kamloops’ power play, which went 1-for-5 on the weekend, slid down to seventh in the overall standings. Though the team finally cracked while short-handed, the Blazers’ penalty kill is still clipping at a league-best 89.7 percent after 14 games.
Since being outscored by a total of 12-7 in the first three games of the season, the Blazers have outscored their opponents 42-15 while winning nine of their past 11 games. The Blazers’ plus-22 goal differential is tied with the Medicine Hat Tigers and Edmonton Oil Kings for best in the WHL.
Heading South
Kamloops will continue their five-game road-trip this coming weekend when they head across the border to play Everett, Portland and Seattle.
Much like the Blazers, Everett has turned it around after a relatively slow start. Since the last matchup between the two teams, Everett has bolstered their lineup with the acquisition of Cole Fonstad from the Prince Albert Raiders. Fonstad’s playmaking abilities add some much-needed scoring for Everett who has leaned heavily on 20-year old Bryce Kindopp for offence while providing some relief for Everett’s workhorse Dustin Wolf. In the two contests between Kamloops and Everett this season, Wolf has accumulated a 9.45 save-percentage by allowing just four goals on 70 shots.
If the Blazers are seeking revenge for their 4-3 loss against the Winterhawks earlier this season, it won’t come easy. Portland sits one point back of Everett for the U.S Division lead with an 8-3-0-1 record, and are currently on a 5-0-0-1 streak in their last six games. Much of Portland’s recent success has come from their blue line, led by Kamloops native Johnny Ludvig. The Winterhawks captain was selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round of last year’s NHL entry draft, thanks much in part to his defensive prowess, but the third-year rearguard has started to round out his game. His 13 points in 12 games are already close to eclipsing the 18 points he put up in 58 games last season, and his four goals on the power play this season are the only four he’s scored on the man-advantage in 121 regular-season games. As it stands right now, the league’s best penalty kill will have their hands full with the Ludvig-led power play which is torching the WHL with a success rate of 28.3 percent.
The Blazers will then cap off their five-game road trip on November 8th against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The two teams have split the season series with one win apiece and home-ice appears to be a significant advantage as the home team has won by a combined score of 12-2. Though Seattle remains one of a few teams without a point-per-game player thus far, goaltender Roddy Ross is more than capable of stealing a game, and the Philadelphia Flyers draft pick should expect to see a lot of rubber as Kamloops has thrown 94 shots on net in the two games against Seattle this season.
