The Victoria Royals rally for a 2-1 victory when the Portland Winterhawks, who had a 1-0 lead going into the third period, are unable to maintain it.
The third goal of the weekend was scored by Josh Zakreski. In the deciding second, Kyle Chyzowski was given a 5-minute major and game misconduct for a charging penalty.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
| 2nd 7:48 POR Josh Zakreski (Tyson Jugnauth, Diego Buttazzoni) 1-0 | Jugnauth s very long shot is tipped in by Zakreski from the top of the crease. Buttazzoni from near the blue line passed it over to Jugnauth. |
| 3rd 7:08 VIC Teydon Trembecky (Cole Reschny, Nate Misskey) 1-1 | A great play by Reschny to set up the goal. Picking up a loose puck at center ice and taking it down the left wing, he then takes it behind the net and executes a wraparound pass to a wide open Trembecky in the slot. Trembecky beat Alex Weiermair to the net and Jordan Duguay didn t pick him up. Misskey threw it up the boards clearing it out for Reschny to run onto it. |
| 3rd 11:24 VIC Kenta Isogai (Justin Kipkie, Cosmo Wilson) 1-2 | A great play by Isogai, starting with him winning the puck at center ice, then getting a short pass from Kipkie to get into the zone with speed, getting past Weiermair and Ryan Miller to the slot, and then beating Ondrej t bet k before Kayd Ruedig could get to him. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 19:20 |
| Tied | 32:04 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 8:36 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: Victoria traveled overnight from Spokane to play the Winterhawks, who had the schedule to their advantage. Both teams are coming off losses to teams higher in the standings of four goals or more. Victoria is attempting to keep Prince George from taking the lead in the division. After PG jumped them on Friday, Portland is attempting to pull back into fourth place.
First period: It was a rare first period without any goals. Portland took ten minutes to earn their first shot on goal, but they soon had nine thanks to two unsuccessful power plays in three minutes. The Royals blocked a lot of shots, and Portland missed the net a lot. But not much at even strength on goal.
Second period: Both sides squandered good chances, but Portland got moving more in the second and was rewarded with the goal. The Winterhawks lost their captain for the third period when Kyle Chyzowski was given a major/game misconduct for charging when he left his feet to hit Nate Misskey on the boards toward the end of the period.
Third period: Portland comfortably ended the remainder of Chyzowski’s penalty. Then, however, things changed. Victoria dominated the next fifteen minutes, scoring two goals to take the lead and outscoring Portland 9-3 during that time. The goalie’s pull gave the Winterhawks an opportunity, but they were unable to convert and lost their second game of the weekend.
How it was won: 1) Without Chyzowski, a seasoned Victoria squad exploited Portland’s tremors in the third.
2) The Royals played excellent defense and limited the Winterhawks to 25 shots despite having to travel to Portland early in the morning.
Crucial stretch/moment: With 2:14 remaining in the second period, Cyzowski committed a major and game misconduct. Up until that time, Portland was playing well—just a little bit better than the Royals. They didn’t after that.
Unexpectedly, Portland is playing their season’s lowest-scoring game (total for both teams). On October 19, they lost to Everett 3-0, their only other game with three goals. They had two games with five goals or fewer in the 36 games prior to this one.
It should come as no surprise that Portland gave themselves two of the three stars in a defeat. The Winterhawks have more stars than goals scored in their home losses this season, albeit it’s not as bad as Friday’s picks.
The Chyzowski call, in which he struck Misskey high along the boards and left his feet, was not particularly contentious or the subject of much debate. When Caleb Matthews simply fell, Diego Buttazzoni was given a trip call, which may have been the worst minor penalty call of the season. Our referees from the previous two nights, one of whom has reportedly officiated some AHL and PWHL games, had a rough weekend.
The game was 50/50. Who won?
Suspensions and injuries: Because of the charging penalty on Misskey, Chyzowski will miss at least one game. Misskey may only be suspended for one game because he didn’t miss much time.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenta Isogai | VIC | 1 goal | Was quiet for 2 periods, but then made a nice play to score the game-winner, and was important late in the game defensively keeping Portland from tying it. 3-game point streak. |
| Jayden Kraus | VIC | 24 saves-25 shots | Continues a great season. A couple of big saves in the 3rd period. |
| Ondrej t bet k | POR | 30 saves-32 shots | One of his better games in awhile. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 1 assist | Set up a lot of chances again and didn t get beat defensively. |
| Cole Reschny | VIC | 1 assist | Didn t cash in on some good chances in the first 2 periods including missing an open net. But then he made the big play to set up the tying goal. 4-game point streak. |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 1 goal | Scored all 3 of Portland s goals this weekend as he reached the 30 mark. 5-game point streak. |
| Justin Kipkie | VIC | 1 assist | Their defensemen all had strong games. |
| Nate Misskey | VIC | 1 assist | Not hurt on Chyzowski s hit, fortunately. |
| Teydon Trembecky | VIC | 1 goal | Scored the tying goal, giving him a 4-game point streak. Could have had goat horns after messing up an empty-net chance that would have put the game away. |
| Keaton Verhoeff | VIC |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 assist | 4-game point streak and 4 shots. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | A key major penatly. The likely suspension will stop his streak of 111 straight games, regular season and playoffs. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Royals | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 27-18-2-1 (.594) |
27-14-3-5 (.633) |
| Goals/game | 4.0 | 3.8 |
| Goals allowed/game |
4.0 |
3.2 |
| Team shooting % | .113 | .112 |
| Team save % |
.883 |
.902 |
| Power play | 26.9% | 28.1% |
| Penalty kill |
76.6% |
75.1% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| Power plays against/game |
3.6 |
3.4 |
| Outshooting opponents | 20-26-2 |
28-20-1 |
| After 1 period | 14-20-14 | 22-13-14 |
| After 2 periods |
19-23-6 |
20-16-13 |
| Score, last 10 games |
41-41 (0) |
48-27 (+21) |
| Score, last 20 games |
86-79 (+7) |
82-52 (+30) |
The Portland Winterhawks
A difficult game on a difficult weekend. They didn’t give anyone hope that they could perform well without their captain, and they’ll probably have to do it again on Friday when they play a side that is near them in the standings.
The Royals of Victoria
Despite having the third-best record, they managed to stay one point ahead of Prince George at the top of their division, earning them the second seed. Midweek, they play two games at home against struggling Kelowna, and the following weekend, they travel to eastern Washington for two games.
Next games
Vancouver, Friday, February 7, 7 p.m. PST
Seattle on Saturday, 2/8, at 6 p.m. PST
Looking ahead: Everett, Friday, 2/21, 7 p.m. PST
Victoria’s next game is scheduled for Friday, February 28, at 7 p.m. PST.
