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| Dakota Conroy scraps Lukas Walter in a 6-3 loss in Tri City |
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| #14 Zane Jones earned 'Hit of the Night' |
Victoria held a 2-0 lead in the second before the Americans scored three times before the period was out, and added three more in the third. The Royals got a single late to cut the lead in half but ultimately fell to the #5 ranked team in the CHL.
When asked about the turning point, Assistant coach Ben Cooper brought up missed chances when the Royals led 2-0 in the second, “Logan Nelson had a breakaway and then we had 3 or 4 scoring chances on one shift and that would of made it three nothing, it would have been a totally different game, we couldn’t bury and they got the momentum back…they’re such a run and gun team with so much fire power, they get one and they get some momentum and it’s tough to stop.”
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| The two benches during a Time-Out |
The Royals perfect penalty killing streak lasted over three games but came to an end in the third period. Victoria had gone 10 for 10, and ended the night killing 4 of 5. “We put a real big emphasis on blocking shots lately and guys are starting to take more pride in that area, so we’re pretty happy with that and penalty kill’s been better of late, little bit passive at times, but it gave us a chance to win with the first few penalty kills in that game.” Said Cooper.
The Royals hot power play was unable to capitalize on 6 chances, twice with a two man advantage. According to Cooper, “It just wasn’t clicking tonight, we did get some shots, Rimmer’s a good goalie…didn’t think we did a good enough job of really getting on top of him and creating second and third chances from those shots.” They were 5 for 12 over their last two contest.
Victoria got goals from Jamie Crooks (29th), Brandon Magee (18th), and Jesse Zgraggen (2nd). Brendan Shinniman scored the game wining goal at 17:56 of the second and was named number one star on a three point effort (1g 2a). Adam Hughesman scored back to back goals in the third, adding an assist giving him 80 points. North Sannich product Sam Grist (1g 1a), Connor Rankin (2a) and Patrick Holland (2a) all had two point efforts.
The Royals with 40 points are 7th in the West, 2 up on Seattle, and 6 ahead of Prince George. They’ll entertain the 10th place Everett Silvertips for the first time Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ben Cooper, Royals assistant coach with post game thoughts:
After a scoreless opening period, Jamie Crooks would bury a rebound to notch his 29th at the 1:51 mark of the second. Brandon Magee added his 18th of the season going five hole on Rimmer at the 10:13 mark to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. The Americans would respond with three unanswered, kicked off by North Saanich product Sam Grist’s 2nd of the season. Tri City would add two more just 23 seconds apart by Zachery Yuen and Brendan Shinniman, to take a 3-2 lead to the third.
The Americans got three more in the third, the first by Jesse Mychan just 43 seconds in. Adam Hughesman scored a pair 3 minutes and 3 seconds apart, the later on the power play. Jesse Zgraggen was credited with the final goal of the game at the 18:29 mark. The contest ended with a fight between Dakota Conroy and Lukas Walter.
Victoria Royals 3 at Tri-City Americans 6 - Status: End of Game
Saturday, February 4, 2012 - Toyota Center - Kennewick, WA
Victoria 0 2 1 - 3
Tri-City 0 3 3 - 6
1st Period- No Scoring.
Penalties-Nelson Vic (slashing), 1:24; Holland T.c (checking from behind), 4:55; Kanzig Vic (checking from behind), 8:34; Grist T.c (delay of game), 14:32; Ryckman T.c (tripping), 15:31.
2nd Period-
1, Victoria, Crooks 29 (Hodges, Rintoul), 1:51.
2, Victoria, Magee 18 (Walker), 10:13.
3, Tri-City, Grist 2 (Shinnimin, Hughesman), 11:59.
4, Tri-City, Yuen 8 (Feser), 17:33.
5, Tri-City, Shinnimin 31 (Grist, Holland), 17:56.
Penalties-Hodges Vic (tripping), 5:28; Topping T.c (cross checking), 13:06; Ryckman T.c (butt-ending, butt-ending), 14:44; Pilton Vic (interference), 16:13.
3rd Period-
6, Tri-City, Mychan 8 0:43.
7, Tri-City, Hughesman 30 (Rankin, Shinnimin), 2:39.
8, Tri-City, Hughesman 31 (Rankin, Holland), 5:42 (PP).
9, Victoria, Zgraggen 2 (Cote, Kralik), 18:29.
Penalties-Zgraggen Vic (slashing), 4:09; Conroy Vic (major-fighting), 20:00; Walter T.c (major-fighting), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-
Victoria 13-15-7-35.
Tri-City 15-14-14-43.
Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 / 6; Tri-City 1 / 5.
Goalies-Victoria,
Hamilton 16-25-1-4 (36 shots-30 saves);
Rathjen 0-4-1-0 (7 shots-7 saves).
Tri-City, Rimmer 20-8-0-1 (35 shots-32 saves).
A-4,778
Referees-Andy Thiessen (11), Jeff Ingram (82).
Linesmen-Jason Michelbook (112), Trevor Shively (119).
