Blazers hold off late comeback to defeat Royals 2-1
Forward Logan Stankoven’s second period goal would make the difference in the Kamloops Blazers’ 2-1 win over the Victoria Royals on Saturday night.
Goaltending was the story of this game, which saw Victoria’s Tyler Palmer stop all but two of 43 shots, while counterpart Dylan Ernst held his opponents scoreless for the first 53 minutes, stopping 25 of 26 shots in the victory.
Victoria forward Riley Gannon recorded the only marker for his team in the loss.
Kamloops’ record improves to 39-14-2-0 as they jump into a tie with the Everett Silvertips for first place in the conference following the win.
Meanwhile, the Royals defeat sees them remain in ninth place with a 15-32-5-1 record with 36 points on the year. They now sit three points back of the Spokane Chiefs for the final playoff spot in the West.
Kamloops forward Matthew Seminoff would kick off the scoring early in the second period, scoring his 23rd goal of the season at 1:25 of the frame to make it 1-0 for the home side.
The Blazers would add on to their lead late in period two on a Logan Stankoven shorthanded marker (31) at 17:35 to head into the final period with a 2-0 advantage.
Victoria would end the shutout bid for Blazers’ goalie Dylan Ernst at 13:35 of the final frame on Riley Gannon’s 15th goal of the year, bringing his team within one with six minutes remaining in regulation. Forward Marcus Almquist and defenceman Wyatt Wilson wound count assists on the goal.
Don't turn away yet! Riley Gannon squeaks one through!#ReturnOfTheRoar #VICvsKAM pic.twitter.com/3FT1JhObPV
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) March 6, 2022
Despite a number of chances with the goaltender pulled in the final minutes, the Royals were ultimately unable to mount a comeback and time would expire with Kamloops earning the 2-1 victory.
Kamloops will have the next six days off before beginning a home-and-home weekend set against the Kelowna Rockets starting on Mar. 11.
Meanwhile, the Royals will have a short two day break before welcoming the Portland Winterhawks to the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for a pair of midweek contests on Tuesday, Mar. 8 and Wednesday Mar. 9. Puck drop for both games is set for 7:05pm.
For tickets to upcoming Royals games, visit the Victoria Royals ticketing page or call the Select Your Ticket box office at 250-220-7777. Visit the Royals promo page for all special ticket offers.
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About the Victoria Royals
The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) owned and operated by GSL Group. The Royals play all their home games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre and have entered their 11th season of their existence.
About Save-On Foods Memorial Centre
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOFMC) is designed, constructed, developed and operated by GSL Group. SOFMC is Victoria’s premier entertainment facility and the largest arena in British Columbia outside Vancouver. The state-of-the-art 7,000 seat facility is home to the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and regularly hosts large-scale concerts and other special events such as figure skating, curling, plays, trade shows and conferences. SOFMC also features a fine dining Lion’s Den Restaurant, as well as retail and meeting space.
