The Victoria Royals are moving on to the second round of the Western Hockey League Playoffs for the first time since 2019!
While a sweep would’ve been ideal, the Royals wrapped up their first-round series against the Tri-City Americans in five games, closing it out with a statement 7-0 win on Friday night in Kennewick, Washington at the Toyota Center.
It’s the result the team expected, and now they’ll enjoy a few well-earned days of rest before the second round begins. Their next opponent is still to be determined.
Despite getting pulled in Game 4, Johnny Hicks was back between the pipes for the fifth straight game—and this time, he delivered. Hicks stopped all 35 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the series, showing serious poise in the crease and bouncing back exactly how the Royals needed him to.
The lineup saw a few shakeups ahead of puck drop, likely due to injuries. Cruz Waltze was called up to replace Escalus Burlock, and Jerrett Ross stepped in for Landon Young. Both players held their own—and Ross capped his night off with a pretty unforgettable moment by scoring his first WHL goal with seconds to go.
Victoria came out flying and took control early, outscoring the Americans 3-0 in the opening period. Wyatt Danyleyko opened the scoring with his first of the playoffs, assisted by Kenta Isogai and Caleb Matthews.
Moments later, Brayden Boehm followed it up with a goal of his own off a feed from Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff. Teydon Trembecky made it 3-0 before the period was up, with Reschny and Isogai each picking up their second points of the night.
There wasn’t much physical play in the first 20 minutes, and the only penalty—a call against Reggie Newman—left some fans scratching their heads.
Just 21 seconds into the second, the Royals nearly struck again, but the goal was waved off for a high stick. Undeterred, they got it right back 59 seconds into the period when Isogai buried his third of the series, assisted by Reschny and Nate Misskey.
Not long after, Victoria made it 5-0 on a slick powerplay goal. Brandon Lisowsky finished off a tic-tac-toe setup from Reschny and Justin Kipkie in style.
With a five-goal cushion heading into the third, Hicks had to come up big a few times as the Americans pushed for anything to build off—but the Royals’ netminder stood tall.
Boehm added his second of the night midway through the period, thanks to a setup from Markus Loponen and Verhoeff. Then, with just seconds left in regulation, Jerrett Ross scored his first-ever WHL goal, assisted by Hayden Moore and Verhoeff—sealing the 7-0 win and sending the Royals into round two with a huge dose of momentum.
It was a full team effort and a dominant performance on the road to finish off the series in style.
The last time the Royals reached the WHL Western Conference semi-final was in 2019, when they were swept in four games by the Vancouver Giants. The Giants advanced to the WHL Championship but fell to the Prince Albert Raiders in a dramatic Game 7 overtime, with former Royals forward Dante Hannoun scoring the title-winning goal.
Now the Royals wait to find out who they’ll face next—but one thing is certain: they’re going to be a tough matchup for whoever’s on deck.
