Saturday night the Victoria Royals completed a weekend sweep of the Kamloops Blazers with a 5-4 victory.
The game was wild, filled with everything you would expect from two division rivals and then some.
Victoria looked to have a commanding 3-0 lead halfway through the game, only to see the Blazer offence storm back in quick-strike fashion.
An impressive three goals by Kamloops in just 83 seconds had the Royals reeling in the middle frame.
Victoria recovered for the third and regained their lead for good, holding on for an import win as they march towards the playoffs.
“We just came in after the second and said be positive,” said Royals’ forward Tarun Fizer. “Let’s not engage with their guys and just play our hockey. That’s what we did in the third and it worked.”
“That was all the leadership group,” said Royals Head Coach Dan Price on his team’s resolve after the three quick goals against. “[They] were just super calm on the bench, ‘No worries, let’s get back to our game.’ The message within the group was this is a great test for us. It’s exactly the test we need, could experience something like this in the playoffs. So, let’s go get a lead and build. Let’s go in the third period.”
The game started with some scores to settle, as Carson Miller and Zane Franklin dropped the gloves 21 seconds in.
“I definitely respect him [Franklin] for answering the bell there,” said Miller. “Was the hit yesterday clean? – Maybe, maybe not. Either way, we’re going stand up for each other. Come playoff time, we’re going to be a team that if you’re gonna take shots like that, we’re gonna we’re going to get you back. So, big respect for him to answer that call there.”
Victoria opened the scoring as Carson Golder carried into the Blazers zone with speed. The defenceman turned forward fired a shot on Rayce Ramsey, with the rebound going to Alex Bolshakov who buried it for the 1-0 lead at 12:46.
The Royals added to their lead as a costly turnover by the Blazers defenceman went straight to Kaid Oliver who took advantage of the gift. The goal was the 16th of the year for Oliver and put the home team up 2-0.
The shots at the end of the first period were 15 to 7 in favour of Victoria, thanks largely to their pressure on the Blazers, creating turnovers and odd-man rushes.
The second period was a wild frame and fully entertaining.
The action kicked off with a Franklin hit on Bolshakov, a heavy shot that crunched the Victoria forward. In the response, Jacob Herauf drew a cross-checking penalty, while Franklin drew more heat from the Victoria crowd. Bolshakov was down for a while, then headed to the dressing room.
Kamloops seemed to have struck with the man-advantage, on a crashing play towards Evanoff. The Victoria goalie was shaken up on the play, as the replay showed the Kamloops player pushing the Royals defencemen into the goalie. A review led to the officials waving the goal off due to incidental contact. Evanoff would stay in the game.
A speedy Carson Miller was hauled down on a breakaway, leading to a penalty shot. The Yorkton, SK native made no mistake, as he dangled in and roofed a shot to beat Ramsey for a 3-0 Victoria lead.
Miller on his penalty shot goal, “I was ready to shoot. Ramsey was pretty far out, and he played it all the way, I didn’t have much room. Any bounce off my stick might not have gone my way but that one went in.”
The Blazers got on the scoreboard on a big turnover by the Royals in their own zone, with Caedan Bankier dangling it around Evanoff for the goal.
Kamloops kept the pressure coming, with Quinn Schmiemann taking a nice pass and found the wide-open net. The goal at 15:12 made it a one-goal game.
The Blazers tied it up in quick fashion, with Orrin Centazzo and Sean Strange breaking in 2-on-1, Centazzo buried it on a Franklin pass, completing an impressive three goals in 83 seconds.
In the third, the Royals pulled ahead again on a goal by Fizer. Fizer muscled the defender away, protected the puck and put it up and over Ramsey for the 4-3 lead at 7:42.
Victoria added to their lead, as a nice backhand pass from Fizer found Brandon Cutler who buried it for the 5-3 lead at 10:35 of the third period.
Kamloops, however, would no go away quietly, as Max Martin wired home a shot on the powerplay to make it 5-4 with just under seven minutes left to play.
That would be it for the scoring as Victoria held on for the Victory and a sweep of the division first-place team the Blazers.
Next up for Kamloops, they complete a stretch of three games in three days, as they square off against the Vancouver Giants on Sunday.
For Victoria, the Red Deer Rebels make a rare appearance to the Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena on Tuesday.
“A lot of respect for their coaching staff and their organization as a whole,” said Price on the upcoming matchup. “They work very hard. It’s going to be a great game.”
“I hope the fans come out and watch it because it’s going to be just like tonight, super physical. I know it’s not a conference game, but it’s gonna be really intense and competitive. And our guys want to keep rolling for our fans here.”
