By Chad Klassen

Royals grab lead back, can close out series in Kamloops on Monday

Mar 30, 2019 | 11:30 PM

VICTORIA, B.C. — The Royals knew they needed to get home to the Island after a pair of emotional games in Kamloops, and some home cooking is exactly what they needed to turn the series back in their favour. 

In fact, it only took them 1:27 to score the opener in Game 5 on their way to a 6-3 win Saturday night, flipping the script from their ugly Game 4 defeat on Wednesday evening that was highlighted by Kody McDonald’s match penalty and indefinite suspension after a stick-swinging incident at the benches.

D-Jay Jarome got Victoria started in front of its 5,856 crowd at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena. The Blazers tied it up on a Ryley Appelt goal, but the Royals’ Philip Schultz scored what would be his first of a hat-trick on the night to give the home side a 2-1 lead after the first. 

Victoria scored twice in the middle frame to stretch the lead to 4-1, including Schultz’s second of the game and eventual game-winner and the first goal of the playoffs from rookie defenseman Noah Lamb, who was the game’s second star. Schultz’s second goal spelled the end of Dylan Ferguson’s night after allowing four goals on 14 shots. He was replaced by Victoria native Dylan Garand who played 23 minutes, making nine saves and allowing no goals. 

In the third, 15-year-old Logan Stankoven got rewarded for his play with his first WHL goal to cut the deficit to two midway through the period. But with Garand out, the Royals would add two empty-netters, one from Schultz, in between Jermaine Loewen’s third goal of the series. 

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The teams meet at the Sandman Centre on Monday night for Game 6 with the Blazers needing to win to force the series back to the Island for a seventh and deciding game.

The winner of this series advances to play the Vancouver Giants, which wrapped up their first-round series against Seattle on Saturday night.