Tri-City has only swept Victoria on the road once in franchise history, and it would be another year without accomplishing that feat, as the Americans saw their seven-game winning streak snapped in a 5–1 loss to the Victoria Royals on Tuesday night.
First Period
Victoria set the tone early and opened the scoring just past the midway mark of the first period.
A point shot was tipped high by Jacob Schwartz and past Ryan Grout’s glove for the game’s first goal, giving the Royals an early 1–0 edge.
Late in the period, frustration boiled over for Tri-City when Connor Dale was high-sticked directly in front of an official, yet no penalty was called. The Tri-City bench was visibly upset as play continued, and Victoria carried its one-goal lead into the first intermission.
Second Period
Tri-City dodged an early bullet to begin the second, as Victoria narrowly missed a tap-in when a loose puck slid untouched through the crease.
Not long after, the Americans capitalized at the other end to tie the game. After Jaxen Adam’s point shot missed the net and caromed off the end boards, Gavin Garland collected the puck and centered it to Savin Virk. Virk’s first attempt was denied by Brayden Eskit, but he stayed with it and buried the rebound to even the score at 1–1. The assist extended Garland’s point streak to nine games.
Victoria regained the lead just under eight minutes later after another unlucky bounce off the end boards kicked directly into the slot, where Hayden Moore pounced and whacked it home to make it 2–1.
Tri-City earned its first power play with 7:37 remaining in the period when Cruz Pavao drove hard to the net and was hauled down, but the Americans were unable to generate momentum with the man advantage.
Late in the frame, Ryan Grout came up large, stretching across the crease to disrupt a backdoor feed to Roan Woodward, who couldn’t get his stick on the puck. Victoria still led 2–1 heading into the third.
Third Period
The Royals took control early in the final frame.
Just 2:41 in, Hayden Moore rang a shot off the post, and with the puck loose in the crease, Roan Woodward was the first to it and put home the rebound to give Victoria its first two-goal lead of the night.
Tri-City had a golden opportunity to respond when Cruz Pavao picked off a mishandled puck at the point and raced in alone on a breakaway. Looking to snap a slump that has seen him score just once in his last 13 games, Pavao fired high and missed the net, keeping the deficit at two.
Another chance came midway through the period when Seth Fryer was called for interference, giving Tri-City its second power play of the night. Once again, the Americans couldn’t convert, and momentum quickly swung the other way.
Shortly after the kill, Gavin Garland was whistled for a high stick, sending Tri-City to the penalty kill for the first time. Victoria capitalized, as Moore scored his second of the night to make it 4–1 and effectively put the game out of reach.
The Royals added insurance with just over four minutes remaining, as Heath Nelson beat Grout up close to extend Victoria’s unanswered run to four goals and seal the 5–1 final.
Postgame / What’s Next
All good things come to an end, and for Tri-City, that meant their first loss in just under a month. The Americans fall to 20-14-2 after being unable to find traction on the power play and suffering through a handful of costly bounces that favored the Royals.
Victoria outshot Tri-City 24–23. The Americans finished 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Royals went 1-for-1.
A lone bright spot came from Gavin Garland, who extended his point streak to nine games.
Tri-City will now quickly pack up, catch the ferry out of Victoria, and head to Kelowna for a Wednesday night matchup against the Memorial Cup–hosting Rockets, where they’ll look to start a new winning streak.
