Royals Waver Against Winterhawks, Wake Up to Waltz Their Way to a Win Over Wilting Wenatchee Wild

The Royals wrapped up their road trip in Wenatchee on Saturday night after facing the Portland Winterhawks on Friday. Here's how it went down.

As the rematch of a first-round playoff series last season that saw the Royals pummeled to a 4-0 series loss, Friday night's game in Portland was expected to be a tough one. Portland and Victoria entered the game with the two highest shots allowed per game in the WHL, and it showed in the evening's fast, end-to-end pace. The Winterhawks are a team of fast, strong forwards that love to shoot the puck from anywhere on the ice. Their speedy breakout and high-movement power play are a nightmare for any defensive core. Portland's heavy-offense approach can leave them vulnerable in their own zone, however, a fact which the Royals found a few chances to expose in Friday's contest. Ultimately, the name of the game was special teams, with the Royals taking too many penalties against a group with such an oppressive power play. The Royals' offense sputtered in comeback time, and they would drop Friday's game 5-3 .

Victoria was much sharper the next night in Wenatchee. With a strange early goal from Saskatoon's Logan Pickford that bounced in off the back of Wild goaltender Daniel Hauser, the Royals would go on to dictate the pace of play for just about the entire game. Justin Kipkie would make it 2-0 with five minutes left in the second period on a classic Kipkie laser from the blueline, notching his first red light of the season, and Reggie Newman would continue his crusade against abandoned creases, sealing the deal with his second goal (and second empty-net goal) of the season.

Although the power play came up short, going 0-4 in Wenatchee, the Royals played strong defense, especially in the third period, to deny a Wild comeback. The real star of the show, however, was goalie Spencer Michnik, who stopped 22 of 22 shots to secure the win and put up the ol' goose egg.

The Royals will face Wenatchee twice more on October 11 and 12, but this time on home turf as they return to Victoria.