The Victoria Royals remained hotter than billionaires in space, or least garish Christmas sweaters.
All but left for dead earlier in the season, the Royals won for the seventh time in their last eight Western Hockey League games and now have earned points in 10 of their last 11 games following a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night before 3,209 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
Bailey Peach — a 20-year-old committed to Acadia of U Sports but looking more and more like he could go ECHL/AHL pro — added to his Victoria-leading total of 22 points by scoring a laser off a face-off win by Brayden Schuurman for the winning goal at 19:55 of the second period to make it 3-2 after Vancouver (13-10-1) had taken a 2-0 lead in the first period.
“We have the same mindset every single game,” said Peach.
“That’s five wins in a row and we’ll be looking to make it six.”
Riley Gannon and Schuurman, the latter into an empty net for this team-leading 12th goal, put it away in the third period.
The result comes after fourth-round San Jose Sharks-drafted blue-liner Gannon Laroque’s late third-period goal gave the Royals a 4-3 victory over the Giants on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre. Laroque also scored the winner last weekend in overtime against Seattle.
The stretch of success for Victoria (8-11-3) had been built mostly on the road but the Royals moved to 3-7-1 on Blanshard Street with the Saturday victory.
Meanwhile, they could be called the Island Giants with forwards Payton Mount, Ty Halaburda and Julian Cull from Victoria and goaltender Will Gurski of Duncan. But it wasn’t a sweet homecoming.
The Giants continued their season of swings. Vancouver went on a recent six-game winning tear before now recording three consecutive losses. Vancouver was without third-round Florida Panthers draft pick Justin Sourdif, who is in Calgary at the Canadian team selection camp ahead of the 2022 world junior championship beginning Boxing Day in Edmonton and Red Deer, but that doesn’t take away from Victoria’s tight team effort.
The Giants still had the services of Boston Bruins first-round draft pick Fabian Lysell, who scored twice for Vancouver in a losing cause Friday night against the Royals, and who will represent Sweden in the world juniors.
The Giants gave Las Vegas Golden Knights prospect goaltender Jesper Vikman, who will also represent Sweden at the world juniors, the night off. Gurski, a six-foot-three 19-year-old out of the Shawnigan Lake School program, was solid in his return to the Island with 37 saves.
Tyler Palmer was also fine and made 30 saves, several of them difficult and timely, in goal for the Royals.
Justin Lies, on a strange power-play floater from the point, and Ethan Semeniuk staked the Giants to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Former Giants forward Evan Patrician, with his sixth goal of the season, brought Victoria to within one on the power play at 2:50 of the second period. The fleet Tanner Scott, lethal on breakaways this season, scored on another to tie it 2-2 with his sixth goal of the season at 9:37.
Royals captain Tarun Fizer, appearing in his 200th career game for Victoria, received a rousing ovation when that achievement was announced.
The Royals are in Kelowna on Tuesday to play the Rockets and in Kamloops on Wednesday against the Blazers before returning to the Memorial Centre next Friday and Saturday to meet the Tri-City Americans.
ICE CHIPS: With Giants head coach Michael Dyck at the national junior team selection camp as Canada assistant coach, the Vancouver bench boss duties are being handled by assistant Keith McCambridge.
