Preview | Dec. 30 | Oil Kings @ Royals

…Ready for it? The Victoria Royals return home from their brief two-game road trip for their final game of 2023 in a rare match against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Puck drop is set for 6:05PM at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. Not only will there be hockey, but one fan will have the best day when they find out they get two tickets to see Taylor Swift in Vancouver.

RARE OIL KINGS SIGHTING

It’s been 1,498 days since the Edmonton Oil Kings last made the trip to Victoria. It was all the way back on November 22nd, 2019, and those Oil Kings featured names like Jake Neighbours and a 16-year-old Dylan Guenther, while the Royals were led to victory by a Philip Schultz hat-trick and Shane Farkas in net. No players that played in that game remain for either team, meaning it’s a whole new set of faces for Royals fans to see.

WORLD JUNIORS CHECK IN

The Royals have a pair of representatives at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships in Robin Sapousek (Czechia) and Casper Evensen Haugen (Norway). Both teams have played three games thus far. Czechia is 1-1-1 with an 8-1 win over Norway, a 6-2 loss to Slovakia, and a 4-3 Shootout loss to the United States, while Norway is 0-3 with losses to Czechia (8-1), Slovakia (8-4) and USA (4-1). In three games for Czechia, Sapousek has one goal and one assist, while Norway’s Haugen has one goal in three games.

ROYALS LAST GAME

After hopping in their getaway car with the win in Vancouver the night prior, the Royals found themselves in Wenatchee at Town Toyota Center for a date with the Wild. Jayden Kraus got the start for the Royals, while the Wild started Daniel Hauser. With 11 seconds left in the first period, Alex Edwards scored a fantastic goal to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Early in the second period the Wild would answer back as Miles Cooper scored his 10th of the season. Midway through the second, Edwards would find a loose puck in the crease and bury it into the blank space in the net to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. In the third period, a pair of goals from Luka Scherbyna and Briley Wood put the Wild back in front 3-2. Wenatchee would hang on to that lead, sealing a 3-2 win. Jayden Kraus made 32 saves in the loss for Victoria, and they’ll look to shake it off against Edmonton.

THE LAST TIME (Edmonton Oil Kings’ Version)

EDMONTON

It’s been over a year since the Royals and Oil Kings last played each other, playing at Rogers Place in Edmonton on November 4th, 2022. The starting goalies were Tyler Palmer for the Royals and Kolby Hay for the Oil Kings. Edmonton had a strong first period, leaping out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Luca Hauf and Dawson Seitz. With five minutes left in the second period, a Jake Poole goal would cut the lead to one, but just two minutes later Carson Golder restored the Oil Kings two goal lead. In the final minute of a second period, Alex Edwards would once again bring the Royals within one goal, as the Oil Kings took a 3-2 lead to the second intermission. Early in the third period, Anthony Wilson would tie the game at three’s. Overtime was needed to settle this one, where in the extra frame, Rhett Melnyk turned the goal light red as he fired the winner past Palmer to give the Oil Kings a 4-3 win.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

EDMONTON

• The newest member of the Edmonton Oil Kings is Florida Panthers second-round-pick Gracyn Sawchyn. Sawchyn scored a goal in his debut last night for the Oil Kings against Vancouver.
• Winger Gavin Hodnett rolls into this game on a six-game point streak over which he’s amassed eight points. The 5’8” playmaker has 22 assists on the season.

VICTORIA

• Alex Edwards clearly had the electric touch his last time out as he had a pair of goals against the Wenatchee Wild, including the WHL’s highlight of the night. Edwards now has three goals in his last four games.
• Goaltender Braden Holt has found himself climbing up the WHL leaderboards as he is now tied for third in the WHL in wins with 14 thus far this season. Holt has won each of his last four starts, making 30 or more saves in each of them.

LAST 5 GAMES

ROYALS

• 3-2 L @ Wenatchee (12-28-2023)
• 4-2 W @ Vancouver (12-27-2023)
• 4-3 W v. Tri-City (12-16-2023)
• 3-2 W v. Tri-City (12-15-2023)
• 1-0 L @ Prince George (12-09-2023)

OIL KINGS

• 5-3 W @ Vancouver (12-29-2023)
• 6-4 W v. Prince George (12-27-2023)
• 3-2 W @ Regina (12-17-2023)
• 6-3 L v. Swift Current (12-15-2023)
• 3-2 L v. Medicine Hat (12-09-2023)

ROYALS UPCOMING SCHEDULE

• Jan. 1 v. CGY • 3:05 pm
• Jan. 6 @ REG • 5:00 pm
• Jan. 9 @ BDN • 5:00 pm
• Jan. 10 @ MJ • 5:00 pm
• Jan. 12 @ PA • 5:00 pm

WATCH AND LISTEN

Radio broadcast

Royals games will be broadcast on 91.3 FM the Zone this season with Marlon Martens calling all of the action.

Online video stream

All Royals games will be available on WHL Live.  WHL Live is available to fans anywhere in the world, providing high-quality streaming of WHL games on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV platforms, via mobile with iOS and Android, and on web using Safari or Google Chrome web browsers. Visit watch.chl.cafor complete details and subscription options.

*there were nineTaylor Swift songs slipped into the article, how many did you find?

Written by Graham Morrison