WHL Victoria Royals

Royals' Defence Stands Strong in 3-2 Win Over Blazers

Published on January 29, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Victoria Royals News Release


Victoria Royals' Braden Holt and Reggie Newman celebrate win
Victoria Royals' Braden Holt and Reggie Newman celebrate win
(Victoria Royals)

Victoria, BC - Forward Jake Poole recorded two points, including the game-winning goal, to lead the Victoria Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

It was a game full of dramatic moments for both sides as the Royals fought off a furious third period comeback attempt by the potent Blazers offence en route to sealing the win.

Victoria General Manager and Head Coach Dan Price spoke postgame on the resiliency of the home team to close out an important bounce-back win after a challenging start to the weekend:

"Gut-check win and an important response," said Price postgame. "I thought it really stemmed from our aggression up-ice. I thought our D were really confrontational, they shrunk the offensive zone, they denied lines and it allowed us to transition and took away a lot of time and space Kamloops was trying to use...They locked it down at the end when they needed to."

Goaltender Braden Holt also came up huge for the Royals in the win, stopping all but two of the 37 shots he faced, including an instant highlight-reel, diving stick save to rob Kamloops forward Fraser Minten early in the second period.

Holt sees the win as a character-defining moment for the team:

"I woke up ready to go and wanted this one so bad," said Holt postgame. "We struggled last night, up and down the line up and coach called on us to be better and we each called on each other...We looked in the mirror there and everyone played their role tonight and that's what it takes...Great athletes, great teams bounce back."

The Royals also benefited from goals by forwards Teydon Trembecky-who has scored in four consecutive contests-and Matthew Hodson, who now sits second on the team with 14 goals on the season.

The victory also allowed the Royals to remain in a tie for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference after Kelowna recorded a 5-1 win of their own over Vancouver earlier in the evening.

On the other side, forwards Ryan Hofer and Fraser Minten counted the goals for the Blazers, while starting goaltender Dylan Ernst made 21 saves on 24 shots in the loss.

Forward Teydon Trembecky (6) would give Victoria (14-28-4-1) an early 1-0 lead on a goal at the 10:48 mark of the first period, marking his fourth consecutive game with a goal.

Forward Reggie Newman and defenceman Justin Kipke would pick up assists on the play.

The Royals would grow their lead in the second period, with forward Matthew Hodson (14) scoring on the powerplay at 12:04 to put the home side up 2-0 heading into the third.

Forward Jake Poole would pick up the lone assist on the play.

Kamloops (27-10-4-2) would finally get on the board at the start of the third, with forward Fraser Minten (23) striking at the 1:03 mark to cut the Royals lead to 2-1.

However, Victoria would soon respond with a goal off the stick of Jake Poole (26) at 7:03 of the third to go back up by two.

Justin Kipkie and forward Alex Thacker would collect assists on the goal.

The back-and-forth action would continue as Blazers forward Ryan Hofer (27) took advantage of a powerplay at the 7:40 mark to cut the Victoria lead to 3-2 as the game entered its final 10 minutes of play.

Kamloops would draw multiple penalties in the final few minutes as they pushed to tie the game; however, the Victoria defence would weather the storm and deny the Blazers at every opportunity on the way to sealing the dramatic 3-2 victory.

Looking ahead, the Blazers will return home to host the Portland Winterhawks for a contest this Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Royals will remain at home for a matchup with the Prince Albert Raiders, scheduled for 7:05 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. Tickets are available at selectyourtickets.com.

Follow the Royals on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, TikTok and visit victoriaroyals.com to find out more about ticket sales and to learn the latest news about the team.

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Images from this story

Victoria Royals' Braden Holt and Reggie Newman celebrate win
Victoria Royals' Braden Holt and Reggie Newman celebrate win
   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2023


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