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“Our guys just wanted it, our top two lines really made the difference, you could see their skill and we just seemed to take over the second and third period…guys were doing the work.” said Royals Assistant Coach Ben Cooper.
Ranked 8th in the CHL, The Blazers drop to 2-0-0-1 and will stay on the Island to face the Royals again Sunday afternoon at 1pm.
Cole Ully’s two first period goals put the Blazers ahead until Brett Cote’s power play marker cut the lead in half in the second. Logan Nelson and Alex Gogolev put the Royals ahead in the third, but Tim Bozon tied it with 4:25 remaining.
“We just kept pushing and we knew they wouldn’t be able to match us if we kept going at them, so that’s what we did and we had our speed going” said Cooper about the clubs resiliency.
After a scoreless overtime, Logan Nelson (1g 1a) provided the only goal in a three round shoot out. Brandon Magee and Alex Gogolev were stopped by Taran Kozon, while Patrik Polivka shut the door on Colin Smith, Dylan Willlick, and Cole Ully.
“We just came out in the second and third and tried to win them both, and we took it in a shoot out” said number one star defenseman Brett Cote after trailing 2-0 but outshooting the Blazers 15-6 after 20 minutes.
The Royals peppered Kozun with 37 shots, while Polivka faced 24.
Victoria went 1 for 3 on the power play, while Kamloops went 1 for 2.
Royals rookie forward Brandon Fushimi picked up an assist in his first regular season WHL game, “He did a really good job, and I think based on his play you can probably expect to see him in the line up again.” said Cooper on Fushimi who hails from Thornton Colorado.
Rookie defenseman Jack Walker played his first regular season game with his older brother Ben, a franchise first.
After falling in 4 straight in the first round last year to Kamloops and a pair of preseason losses, Cooper is elated, but not resting, “We’re happy to have this win, but certainly not satisfied. We want to go 4-0, we want to beat them again, and think we can.”
Defenseman Tyler Stahl is expected back in the line up on Sunday after serving a 6 game suspension.
After the Blazers on Sunday, the Royals wrap up a four game homestand with a tilt with the Tigers from Medicine Hat next Wednesday.
Kamloops Blazers 3 at Victoria Royals 4 (SO) - Status: Final SO
Friday, September 28, 2012 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Kamloops 2 0 1 0 - 3
Victoria 0 1 2 0 - 4
1st Period-
1, Kamloops, Ully 1 (Thomson), 8:31. 2, Kamloops, Ully
2 (Gaudet, Needham), 13:05 (PP).
Penalties-Kanzig Vic (interference), 12:12; Hrbas Kam (tripping), 14:05; Rehill Kam (major-fighting), 18:17; Carroll Vic (major-fighting), 18:17.
2nd Period-3, Victoria, Cote 1 (Nelson, Fushimi), 1:57 (PP). Penalties-Smith Kam (tripping), 0:30; Trzonkowski Kam (boarding), 4:38; Dixon Vic (interference), 12:33.
3rd Period-
4, Victoria, Nelson 1 (Fransoo), 5:52.
5, Victoria, Gogolev 2 (Walker), 6:39.
6, Kamloops, Bozon 4 (Smith, Hrbas), 15:35.
Penalties-Trzonkowski Kam (roughing), 4:09; Kanzig Vic (roughing), 4:09; Souto Kam (slashing), 11:54; Zgraggen Vic (roughing), 11:54.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout –
Kamloops 0 (Smith NG, Willick NG, Ully NG),
Victoria 1 (Nelson G, Magee NG, Gogolev NG).
Shots on Goal-
Kamloops 6-7-10-1-0-24.
Victoria 15-12-9-1-1-38.
Power Play Opportunities-
Kamloops 1 / 2; Victoria 1 / 3.
Goalies-
Kamloops, Kozun 2-0-0-1 (37 shots-34 saves).
Victoria, Polivka 3-0-0-0 (24 shots-21 saves).
A-4,447
Referees-Matt Kirk (4), Mark Pearce (5).
Linesmen-Nick Bilko (66), Bevan Mills (98).
