Pregame show on The Zone @ 91.3 FM both night at 6:40, or online at www.thezone.fm
It’s the 5th of 8 meetings this season, with the Blazers holding a 3-1 series advantage. The Royals won their first encounter, 4-3 in a shoot out on the Island September 28th, but then fell 3-0 two nights later. They dropped a pair of 5-2 losses in Kamloops October 10th and 27th.
Victoria is 6th in the West and returns home after a 3 game road trip with a 1-2 record. They snapped a 2 game slide with a 6-2 win against Seattle Saturday night. Jamie Crooks scored a hat trick, Patrik Polivka made 37 saves, while their power play went 3 for 7.
They fell 7-4 in Everett Friday and 6-1 in Kelowna Wednesday.
With 45 points, the Royals are in 6th spot in the West, 6 points back of 5th place Americans, a team Victoria would need to catch to avoid a first round match up against 3rd place Kamloops – if the playoffs were to start today.
Kamloops remains 3rd in the Conference after a 2-1 overtime win in Prince George Saturday night where North Saanich product, defenseman Sam Grist scored the winner. The Blazers fell 1-0 against the Cougars Friday. The victory snapped a 2 game slide.
The Blazers are now (13-9-1-1) the road and (4-5-1-0) in their past 10.
At home (13-5-1-1) the Royals have points in 5 consecutive games. The Blazers have won 13 of 24 on the road (13-9-1-1).
Kamloops has 3 players in the top 10 in scoring, JC Lipon 8th (57pts), Tim Bozon 6th (58pts), and Colin Smith 3rd with 68.
Victoria is led in scoring by Alex Gogolev (43pts), while Jamie Crooks and Brandon Magee are tied for 2nd with 33 points each.
Kamloops acquired F Kale Kessy, 20, from Vancouver for F Rob Trzonkowski, 18, and a 2015 fifth-round bantam draft pick. In the 4 games since the trade, Kessy has 3pts (2g 1a) and 2 pims.
The Royals begin a 4 game in 5 night stretch with 3 of those against the Blazers. After a road game against the Giants Friday, they’ll meet again in Kamloops Saturday.
How the 2 teams match up
Kamloops
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Victoria
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| Team Record | 29-12-2-2 -- 62 points | 21-17-1-2 -- 45 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 | 4-4-1-1 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 2-1 W @ Prince George (Jan 12 2013) Final OT | 6-2 W @ Seattle (Jan 12 2013) Final |
| Home Record | 16-3-1-1 | 13-5-1-1 |
| Away Record | 13-9-1-1 | 8-12-0-1 |
| GF | 158 | 126 |
| GA | 118 | 137 |
| PP (Overall) | (49/206) 23.8 | (37/193) 19.2 |
| PP (Home) | (27/102) 26.5 | (15/91) 16.5 |
| PP (Away) | (22/104) 21.2 | (22/102) 21.6 |
| PK (Overall) | (35/194) 82.0 | (41/184) 77.7 |
| PK (Home) | (12/84) 85.7 | (16/80) 80.0 |
| PK (Away) | (23/110) 79.1 | (25/104) 76.0 |
| Leading Rookie | Thomson (1-5-6) | Hicketts (1-8-9) |
| Most PIM | Edmundson - 90 | Kanzig - 98 |
| Team PIM/GM | 14.9/Game | 20.2/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Smith (27-41-68) | Gogolev (13-30-43) |
| Bozon (26-32-58) | Crooks (21-12-33) | |
| Lipon (22-35-57) | Magee (17-16-33) | |
| Ranford (13-36-49) | Nelson (8-23-31) | |
| Ully (12-12-24) | Walker (13-17-30) | |
| Last 5 Games | 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 | |
| 4-2 W @ Vancouver (Jan 2 2013) Final | 3-2 L vs Tri-City (Jan 4 2013) Final OT | |
| Leading After 1st | 12-1-0-2 | 11-4-0-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 18-1-0-1 | 12-0-0-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 13-5-1-0 | 6-4-1-1 |
| 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 | 7-16-0-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 23-6-2-1 | 9-4-0-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 6-5-0-1 | 10-13-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 13-3-2-2 | 11-2-1-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 2-5-0-0 | 4-3-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 8-3-0-0 | 2-8-0-0 |
