“All the things you did on the road to prepare and how hard you had to play, you have to do the same thing at home.”
That was the simple, yet practical message from Blazers’ head coach Shaun Clouston after his team’s 4-1 defeat to the Victoria Royals.
The Blazers’ 4-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets on December 27th was the seventh consecutive game away from home, a stretch where they collected 12 of a possible 14 points and created an eight-point cushion over their Okanagan rivals in the B.C. Division standings.
After compiling a 12-2-0-1 record at the Sandman Centre, the Blazers appeared to have finally found their rhythm on the road as well, but consecutive losses have brought the team back down to earth and narrowed the gap between the division’s top-four teams.
It’s fair to say that Monday night’s effort against the Royals was far from the Blazers’ best, but that’s not to take anything away from the visitors. Victoria paid attention to all the little details while taking advantage of Blazers’ miscues, resulting in a near-flawless road game.
It would make perfect sense then, that outside of Portland, the WHL’s two stingiest teams in Everett and Victoria play similar styles, at least according to Clouston: “Absolutely, 100 percent. Both teams play hard, they play with structure and don’t give you a ton.”
Of course, missing four regulars from the lineup doesn’t help. While Inaki Baragano served his one-game suspension and Martin Lang continues to rest in the Czech Republic, the Blazers were still without the services of Kyrell Sopotyk and Ryan Hughes.
The absence of three top-nine forwards and a top-six defenceman created little room for error against two teams that maintain structure and discipline and were especially noticeable on Monday. “I think both teams that we played are great teams, they’re well-coached and they have a playoff mentality,” added Clouston.
After a slow start to the 2019-2020 season, the Victoria Royals look every bit as much of a playoff team. Connor Zary’s 22nd goal of the campaign did little to faze the visitors who responded with goals from Tarun Fizer and Carson Miller in the second period.
Through two periods, the Blazers simply didn’t have an answer for the Royals’ energy and determination, and while the game was far from decided after 40 minutes, Gary Haden’s powerplay goal just 26 seconds in was exactly what Victoria needed.
With Rayce Ramsay pulled and the extra man on the ice, Zane Franklin’s shot hit the post to Shane Farkas’ right but that was as close as the Blazers would get. Tarun Fizer’s second of the game and 11th of the season secured the win for the Royals who improved to 8-5-2-0 on the road, while Farkas improved to 13-7-1-0 on the season.
The Blazers will now have a few days off to regroup before hosting the Royals again on Saturday, January 4th. Victoria, meanwhile, has games in Vancouver (Wednesday) and Kelowna (Friday) before returning to Kamloops.
