Tri-City played host to the Victoria Royals Tuesday night and were just 20 minutes away from ending their eight-game losing streak, but it wasn’t meant to be. Victoria skated away with a 4-3 overtime win as Tri-City simply cannot seem to buy a victory.
First Period
Early on, Tri-City looked sharp and had a strong chance to open the scoring in this pivotal matchup.
Just under two minutes in, Ethan Eskit made an early save after Connor Dale blew past a Royals defenseman on a two-on-one and found Savin Virk on the backdoor. Virk fired it straight into Eskit’s chest.
Tri-City earned a power play midway through the period and generated sustained zone time but couldn’t convert on the opportunity.
With 3:47 remaining in the first, Max Silver broke the ice for Victoria. He cut into the middle and fired a shot past Xavier Wendt, who has struggled over his past five starts.
Tri-City nearly answered immediately when Mason Mykichuk burst into the offensive zone and fed Jesse McKinnon on the backdoor, but McKinnon sent his chance wide.
After one period, Victoria led 1-0. Shots were 8-7 in favor of the Royals in what felt like a playoff-style battle between two evenly matched teams fighting for a postseason spot.
Second Period
Tri-City began the second period with 1:40 of power-play time after Odin Vaukhonen took his second penalty of the night—this one for hooking with just 20 seconds remaining in the first.
That opportunity was also killed off, as Tri-City managed only one shot. The Americans have not scored on the power play since February 6 in Penticton.
Four minutes into the period, Tri-City finally broke through. Cruz Pavao snapped a beautiful wrist shot from the slot that beat Eskit glove side, marking his first back-to-back goal games since mid-November.
Despite surrendering several odd-man rushes, Tri-City managed to avoid further damage.
Just past the midway mark, the Americans grabbed their first lead of the night. Gavin Garland found a lane from a sharp angle and beat Eskit over the shoulder. It was Garland’s first goal in over 15 games, and the celebration reflected the relief.
With just over a minute remaining in the period, Pavao struck again, netting his second of the night to give Tri-City a 3-1 lead heading into the intermission—just 20 minutes away from snapping the skid.
Third Period
With a 3-1 cushion entering the third, Victoria had other plans.
Less than a minute into the frame, the Royals scored twice, just nine seconds apart, to tie the game. Head Coach Jody Hull immediately called a timeout in an attempt to settle his group.
After the game, Assistant Coach Ben Assad admitted he didn’t have a clear explanation for the slow start to the period. It appeared simply that Tri-City took its foot off the gas and got caught early.
The timeout proved effective at the time, as Tri-City regrouped and outshot Victoria 11-6 in the third. The Americans generated chances but could not find the go-ahead goal, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime
It seemed Tri-City simply couldn’t catch a break.
With just 19 seconds remaining in overtime, Victoria found the winner.
Miles Cooper dropped the puck to Ludovic Perrault, who carried speed into the slot and snapped a blocker-side shot past Wendt to seal the 4-3 victory.
The loss extended Tri-City’s skid to nine games, but it is the first time in eight games that Tri-City has gotten a point, a small step in the right direction.
Postgame / What’s Next
Tri-City has now dropped nine straight, though they at least earned a point. Their record moves to 25-26-4-1 after splitting the season series with Victoria.
This game was huge, as a regulation win for Tri-City would have tied them with Victoria for the final playoff spot. However, with the overtime loss, Tri-City are now three points outside of the playoffs with the Seattle Thunderbirds, who are heating up, right behind them.
Ethan Eskit for Victoria played in his 100th Career WHL Game this evening, the Victoria netminder is in his fourth season in the WHL and his first with Victoria having spent the past three seasons in Brandon.
Gavin Garland for Tri-City delivered a much-needed performance, recording a goal and an assist, his first goal since January 16 in Red Deer.
Assistant Coach Ben Assad spoke postgame about the team’s top players finally producing after a recent cold stretch and his thoughts on the game.
“I think there were flashes where we were better, for sure. Realistically, when you go into the third period with a 3-1 lead, what happened just can’t happen. The top six did get a couple on the board, but at the same time, those top six that were on the ice for the first two goals in the third period let us down.”
With a challenging weekend ahead and two games against their rivals, the Spokane Chiefs, Assad emphasized the importance of consistency, something that has not been in Tri-City for quite some time now.
“Just trying to stay with the positives. There were some really good stretches tonight, but really an emphasis to play a full 60 minutes and not take our foot off the gas.”
Tri-City are back in action at home on Friday against Spokane at 7:05 PM.
