Wednesday 16 January 2013

Preview: Kamloops at Victoria (Jan 16)

The Victoria Royals (22-17-1-2, 47pts) look for back to back wins against the visiting Kamloops Blazers (29-13-2-2, 62pts) after upsetting them 6-4 Tuesday night.

The Royals overcame a 3-1, 3rd period deficit with a 5 goal final frame.  It’s Victoria’s 2nd win in 5 games against Kamloops this season.  They’ll meet again Saturday night in Kamloops as both clubs play the second of a 4 game in 5 night set.

The Royals power play struck 4 times in the final frame, going 4 for 7 overall.  The Blazers went 1 for 4.

Alex Gogolev had a 3 point night, while getting 2 point efforts from Brett Cote (1g 1a), Joe Hicketts (2a), Austin Carroll (1g 1a), Steven Hodges (2g) and Brandon Fushimi (2a).  Jack Walker rounded out the scoring with the eventual game winner.

The Royals final 3 goals came just 1:49 apart, and it was the most goals in one period by the club all season with 5 in the third.

Patrik Polivka made 26 saves for his 18th win, while Cole Cheveldave suffered his 10th loss with 19 stops.  Polivka is now just 2 wins away from tying Keith Hamilton’s 20 wins last season.

Victoria saw Captain Tyler Stahl return to the line up after missing the last two games (Upper), but were still without 5 players due to injury.  Logan Nelson (Lower, 3-4 weeks), Ben Walker (Upper, 3-7 days), Luke Harrison (Upper, indefinite), Tim Traber (Lower, 5-7 days), and Mitch Deacon sat out. 

The Royals welcomed AP’s Regan Nagy and Michael Bell to the line up for their first WHL games.

Victoria is 6th in the Conference and remains 6 points back of Tri City who won in Everett.  Kamloops is ranked 9th in the CHL, and if the playoffs were to start today, they’d face the 3rd place Blazers who swept them in the post season last year.

The Royals now have points in their last 6 consecutive on home ice where they sport a record of (14-5-1-1).

After Kamloops Wednesday, Victoria plays in Vancouver Friday, and then in Kamloops Saturday. The Blazers head south and visit the Americans Friday before returning home.

-mm
How the 2 teams match up

Kamloops
Victoria
Team Record 29-13-2-2 -- 62 points 22-17-1-2 -- 47 points
Division Ranking 2nd B.C. 3rd B.C.
Conference Ranking 3rd Western 6th Western
League Ranking 6th 12th
Past 10 Games 4-5-1-0 5-4-1-0
Streak 0-1-0-0 2-0-0-0
Last Game 6-4 L @ Victoria (Jan 15 2013) Final 6-4 W vs Kamloops (Jan 15 2013) Final
Home Record 16-3-1-1 14-5-1-1
Away Record 13-10-1-1 8-12-0-1
GF 162  132 
GA 124  141 
PP (Overall) (50/210) 23.8 (41/200) 20.5
PP (Home) (27/102) 26.5 (19/98) 19.4
PP (Away) (23/108) 21.3 (22/102) 21.6
PK (Overall) (39/201) 80.6 (42/188) 77.7
PK (Home) (12/84) 85.7 (17/84) 79.8
PK (Away) (27/117) 76.9 (25/104) 76.0
Leading Rookie Thomson (1-5-6) Hicketts (1-10-11)
Most PIM Edmundson - 95 Kanzig - 98
Team PIM/GM 15.2/Game 20.2/Game
Leading Scorers Smith (28-41-69) Gogolev (14-32-46)
Bozon (27-32-59) Magee (17-17-34)
Lipon (22-36-58) Crooks (21-12-33)
Ranford (13-37-50) Nelson (8-23-31)
Ully (13-13-26) Walker (13-17-30)
Last 5 Games 6-4 L @ Victoria (Jan 15 2013) Final 6-4 W vs Kamloops (Jan 15 2013) Final
2-1 W @ Prince George (Jan 12 2013) Final OT 6-2 W @ Seattle (Jan 12 2013) Final
1-0 L @ Prince George (Jan 11 2013) Final 7-4 L @ Everett (Jan 11 2013) Final
3-1 L vs Tri-City (Jan 9 2013) Final 6-1 L @ Kelowna (Jan 9 2013) Final
6-1 W vs Seattle (Jan 4 2013) Final 5-2 W vs Tri-City (Jan 5 2013) Final
Leading After 1st 12-1-0-2 11-4-0-1
Leading After 2nd 18-2-0-1 12-0-0-1
Tied After 1st 13-6-1-0 7-4-1-1
Tied After 2nd 6-2-1-0 2-1-1-0
Trailing After 1st 4-6-1-0 4-9-0-0
Trailing After 2nd 5-9-1-1 8-16-0-1
Out Shooting Opponents 23-7-2-1 9-4-0-1
Out Shot by Opponents 6-5-0-1 11-13-1-1
1-Goal Games 13-3-2-2 11-2-1-2
2-Goal Games 2-6-0-0 5-3-0-0
3-Goal Games 8-3-0-0 2-8-0-0