ROYALS FALL TO BLAZERS IN OVERTIME IN A BARN BURNER
by Dustin Forbes BCIT Intern at The Zone @ 91.3 FM After losing 4-3 on Tuesday night in the first half of a two game set with the Kamloops Blazers, the Victoria Royals fell in overtime, as Blazers Captain, Chase Schaber scored the winner 2:30 into the extra frame on the powerplay. The Royals remain winless in their last six games and have dropped three straight games at the Save-on Foods Memorial Centre. Royals finish November with a 2-8-1 record.
It was another tough start for the Royals as they gave up the first two goals of the game and found themselves down a pair just 3:56 into the hockey game as Colin Smith and Matt Needham potted goals for Kamloops. The Blazers scored again as Tyler Hansen sailed one in from the blueline over the shoulder of Royals netminder, Keith Hamilton, but the goal was disallowed as there was incidental contact with the goaltender by the Blazers forward in front of the net. Moments later, Royals Captain, Hayden Rintoul blasted home his 7th of the season on the powerplay to get the Royals within a goal; but the Blazers scored with just 2:24 left in the period to go up 3-1 after twenty minutes of play.
A huge second period for the hometown team, led by Kevin Sundher; he scored 1:34 into the second period to get the Royals back to within a goal with his 17th of the year from new linemates Logan Nelson and Jamie Crooks. Just over four minutes later, Sundher would strike again. This time on a solo dash, ripping home a wrist shot from the top of the slot over Blazers goalie, Cole Cheveldave’s glove to tie the game at three. Steven Hodges would match his jersey number with his 11th of the season to give the Royals their first lead of the night, but it was short-lived, as Chase Souto scored a beauty just 32 seconds later to see a 4-4 game through the first two periods.
Each team would add another in the third. Just 32 seconds in, Tim Bozon put the Blazers up a goal making it a 5-4 hockey game. But, the resiliency for the Royals continued as persistence paid off for Zane Jones; he potted his 4th goal of the year on a backhand over the glove of the Kamloops keeper to tie it once again.
In overtime, Royals defenseman Jesse Pauls took a penalty just 1:17 into the extra frame, and the Blazers would make Victoria pay. Chase Schaber sniped his fourth goal in the two games in Victoria to lift the Blazers over the Royals 6-5 in overtime.
Head Coach and General Manager, Marc Habscheid, said after the game, “The first period was horrendous. We were not good at all in the first period.” He went on to say, “In the last two periods, I thought were pretty good. I thought we made some real bad turnovers.”
Royals Assistant Coach, Craig Didmon after the loss:
Kevin Sundher had two goals in the game, while linemate Logan Nelson lead all scorers in the game with four assists. Nelson had six points in the two games against Kamloops
The schedule doesn’t get much easier for the Royals as they head to the Okanagan for games over the weekend against the Kelowna Rockets on Friday, before meeting the Blazers for the fourth time in eight days in Kamloops on Saturday night.
You can catch both games live with Marlon Martens on The Zone at 91.3
Stars:
1) Sundher
2) Bozon
3) Nelson
Power Plays:
Kam 1/3, Vic 1/5
Shots:
Kam 30, Vic 30
Attendance:
4612
