Recap | Mar. 22 | Wild (4) @ Royals (2)
Victoria, BC – It was Fan Appreciation Night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, with the Victoria Royals (29-30-5-4) playing host to the Wenatchee Wild (34-29-4-0) in the Royals final game of their 2023-24 WHL Regular Season. The Friday night clash was the second meeting in three nights between the Royals and Wild, as Victoria was aiming to finish the season with back-to-back wins. Between the pipes, it was the same matchup as was seen on Wednesday. Braden Holt (21-16-4-3, 3.56 GAA, .895 save percentage) got the start for the Royals, while the Wild countered with Brendan Gee (16-12-1-0, 4.15 GAA, .870 save percentage).
Click here for the full scoring summary
Not only was it the final regular-season game of the 2023-24 campaign for the Royals, but also the final regular-season game ever for three overage members of the squad: Tyson Lavetnure, Dawson Pasternak, and Braden Holt.
On the other side of the scale, it was 16-year-old forward Wyatt Danyleyko making his WHL debut for the Royals. Hailing from Sooke, BC, he found himself on a line with Deegan Kiniburgh and Logan Pickford.
WHL Debut for Wyatt Danyleyko!
Swipe to see the solo lap from the product of Sooke! ➡️ pic.twitter.com/heqzakJd5k— x – Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) March 23, 2024
Despite the high energy from the home crowd in Victoria, the visiting Wild struck first. Their top offensive line went to work, with Evan Friesen (25) deflecting a shot from the blueline by Kenta Isogai to grab the opening goal of the contest. Josh Fluker earned the secondary assist as Wenatchee took the lead just prior to the four-minute mark of the first period.
Late in the first period, Wenatchee would double their lead due to a fortunate bounce in their favour as Karter Prosofsky (12) capitalized in his second consecutive game. The blueliner was attempting what seemed to be a standard dump-in to initiate a forecheck, but the puck ricocheted off the equipment of a linesman and bounced toward the yawning Royals’ net as netminder Braden Holt was anticipating the puck to roll around the end boards. Wild goalie Brendan Gee grabbed the lone assist on the play.
Wenatchee carried a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission while also leading 12-11 on the shot clock.
While the opening period of play saw no penalties, the second made up for it quickly. Victoria and Wenatchee combined for seven minor penalties in the middle stanza. Wenatchee saw Karter Prosofsky go to the box twice, while Jonas Woo, Graham Sward, and Luka Shcherbyna all found themselves in the box for two minutes. The Royals had two penalties of their own, with Dawson Pasternak and Casper Evensen Haugen receiving penalties late in the period. Despite the parade to the box, neither team capitalized with the extra man.
Outside of the penalties, Victoria pushed hard for their first goal of the contest, firing 14 shots in the direction of Gee, but he was up to the task, keeping Wenatchee up by two heading into the third period.
Victoria jumped out to a quick start to begin the third period as they continued their pursuit of the opening goal of the contest, outshooting the Wild 6-1 during the first five minutes of the period. However, the Wild defied the pace of play, extending their lead to three goals shortly after the Royals’ push. Once again, Karter Prosofsky (13) scored for the Wild, burying his third goal of the back-to-back segment. Prosofsky was the recipient of a perfectly placed backdoor pass from his defensive partner, Graham Sward, as the pair of blueliners connected to make it 3-0 in favour of Wenatchee.
Shortly after the third Wild goal, they found themselves in penalty trouble again as Jonas Woo took a tripping penalty. On the ensuing power play, Victoria would get on the board. Logan Pickford (8) tallied the marker with the extra man as the Royals pulled themselves within two. Pickford made a move from the blueline as he dashed towards the net and positioned himself in the high slot, where Casper Evensen Haugen made no mistake in finding him alone in front. From there, Pickford unleashed a snap-shot that found the five-hole of Gee.
As momentum was building for Victoria, the Wild struck again. Karter Prosofsky (14) completed his hat-trick to restore Wenatchee’s three-goal advantage. Maddix McCagherty and Hayden Moore earned the assists for the Wild as they brought a 4-1 lead into the second half of the third period.
Two minutes later, Victoria responded. Reggie Newman (19) scored in a similar fashion to how Pickford did earlier in the period. Newman received a feathered pass from the blueline off the stick of Nate Misskey and grabbed the puck in the high slot before firing it through the five-hole of Gee to pull the Royals within a pair.
The Royals pushed for an equalizer, eventually pulling Braden Holt for an extra attacker in the final minutes, but couldn’t find a late solution against Gee as the Wild outlasted the Royals, defeating them 4-2.