NEAL’S NOTES: ROYALS HEAD ON THE ROAD TOWARDS THE HOLIDAY BREAK
Quite a big week for the Victoria Royals on the road who see one four game series come to an end against Vancouver, right into four straight with the Prince George Cougars.
The Royals look to bounce back at the Coliseum Wednesday night after dropping two of three to the Giants on the weekend. The Royals go into the game with a 20-10-1-1 record, seven back of Kelowna for first in the BC division. Now the Royals have company for second spot after the Cougars went into Seattle Tuesday night and hammered the Thunderbirds 6-2. The Rockets won 6-3 in Swift Current.
Not making matters any easier for the Royals is the fact they will not have leading scorer Alex Forsberg in the line-up Wednesday night. Forsberg was handed a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Giants. The Royals also have to pay $500. Forsberg has two goals and six points over a four-game point streak.
Jack Walker is on a roll right now and the Giants seem to bring out the best in his game. Walker scored in all three games on the weekend and has five goals and seven points in four games against the Giants this season.
One surprise so far in the season series between the two teams is how the Giants have solved Coleman Vollrath. Through three games against the Giants, Vollrath has a goals against average of 6.00 and a save percentage of .815. Vollrath is fourth overall among WHL goalies with a .916 save percentage.
The weekend has helped the Giants begin to get back in order after a disastrous stretch over most of October and November. The Giants are 5-5 in their last 10 games and find themselves six points behind Portland for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Ryan Kubic appears to be settling in as the Giants starter in goal, with wins in five of his last seven starts and includes three straight shut-outs in that run.
After the Royals finish with the Giants, they meet the Cougars in Prince George on the weekend for the first two of four straight between the rivals who met in the opening round of the playoffs last season. The Cats are on quite a roll right now with wins in 10 of their last 12 games. The teams will meet again in Victoria December 27 & 28.
