Saturday 16 March 2013

Preview: Victoria at Everett (March 16)

The Victoria Royals (34-30-2-5, 75pts) wrap up the regular season on the road, looking to sweep the home and home against the Everett Silvertips (24-40-2-4, 54 pts) on Saturday.

Pregame show at 6:40, with puck drop at 7 pm on The Zone @ 91.3 fm, or online at www.thezone.fm/listen

Victoria has a 2-1 season series lead, and will look for the clubs first win in Everett since moving to the Island.  Previously Victoria won 5-0 November 16th at home, while Everett earned a 7-4 victory in Washington on January 11th.

The Royals (34-30-2-5, 75pts) set the franchise record for wins (34) and points (75) in a season with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Silvertips Friday night.  Jordan Fransoo and Joe Hicketts both scored a pair of goals while Coleman Vollrath earned his 4th win of the year as the Royals outshot the ‘Tips 32-20. 

The Royals snapped a 3 game slide, while the Silvertips have won just 3 games in their last 9, after going winless in 11.

Victoria, in 6th spot will take on Kamloops in the opening round of the playoffs beginning on the road next Friday March 22nd.  With 2 games left, Everett is in 8th, 3 points back of Seattle with one in hand of the Thunderbirds.

“They’re a hungry team…they’re still going to be playing for something (Saturday)...it’s a good test for us, we’d rather have that than a meaningless game, because we need to prepare for the playoffs...” – Ben Cooper, Royals Assistant Coach

The Royals are looking to snap a 7 game road winless streak, while the ‘Tips are 6 under .500 at home this season.

Victoria was without their leading scorer Alex Gogolev (day to day) who’s missed 19 games with a skate cut, their captain Tyler Stahl (Lower, day to day), Trent Lofthouse (Upper, day to day), Luke Harrison (Upper, indefinite), and G Patrik Polivka (Lower, 1-2 wks).

Tim Traber is availble after serving the final of a 6 game suspension.

Victoria now has five 50 point men as Steven Hodges had 3 assists to hit the 50 point plateau, while Ben Walker’s lone assist gives him 50 - joining Jamie Crooks (53), Brandon Magee (60), and Alex Gogolev (65). 

The Victoria Royals take on the Kamloops Blazers in Round 1 of the 2013 WHL Playoffs. Tickets for Games 3 and 4, held at Bear Mountain Arena, are on sale now. With limited Round 1 seats available, Royals fans are encouraged to order tickets quickly by calling 250-220-7777, visiting www.selectyourtickets.com, or heading down to the Select Your Tickets box office.

Previous Meetings This Season Everett 1 @ Victoria 4 (Mar 15 2013) Final
Victoria 4 @ Everett 7 (Jan 11 2013) Final
Everett 0 @ Victoria 5 (Nov 16 2012) Final

How the 2 teams match up
     
 
Everett
Victoria
Team Record 24-40-2-4 -- 54 points 34-30-2-5 -- 75 points
Division Ranking 5th U.S. 3rd B.C.
Conference Ranking 8th Western 6th Western
League Ranking 19th 12th
Past 10 Games 3-6-1-0 2-6-1-1
Streak 0-1-0-0 1-0-0-0
Last Game 4-1 L @ Victoria (Mar 15 2013) Final 4-1 W vs Everett (Mar 15 2013) Final
Home Record 12-18-0-4 21-11-2-2
Away Record 12-22-2-0 13-19-0-3
GF 162  219 
GA 259  249 
PP (Overall) (46/275) 16.7 (71/331) 21.5
PP (Home) (26/152) 17.1 (36/167) 21.6
PP (Away) (20/123) 16.3 (35/164) 21.3
PK (Overall) (73/318) 77.0 (68/316) 78.5
PK (Home) (31/145) 78.6 (31/145) 78.6
PK (Away) (42/173) 75.7 (37/171) 78.4
Leading Rookie Mueller (6-25-31) Hicketts (5-18-23)
Most PIM Soumelidis - 119 Kanzig - 157
Team PIM/GM 16.0/Game 18.5/Game
Leading Scorers Winquist (24-24-48) Gogolev (20-45-65)
  Oslanski (16-30-46) Magee (30-30-60)
  Petryk (15-24-39) Crooks (33-20-53)
  Hayer (14-23-37) Hodges (27-23-50)
  Bauml (21-15-36) Walker (19-31-50)
Last 5 Games 4-1 L @ Victoria (Mar 15 2013) Final 4-1 W vs Everett (Mar 15 2013) Final
  4-3 W @ Seattle (Mar 9 2013) Final 4-1 L vs Portland (Mar 12 2013) Final
  6-3 L @ Spokane (Mar 8 2013) Final 5-2 L vs Portland (Mar 10 2013) Final
  6-3 L @ Portland (Mar 5 2013) Final 3-1 L @ Vancouver (Mar 9 2013) Final
  1-0 L @ Vancouver (Mar 3 2013) Final OT 5-3 W vs Vancouver (Mar 8 2013) Final
Leading After 1st 9-7-1-2 16-6-1-1
Leading After 2nd 16-1-0-2 21-0-0-2
Tied After 1st 9-7-1-0 13-7-1-2
Tied After 2nd 5-7-1-1 3-2-2-2
Trailing After 1st 6-26-0-2 5-17-0-2
Trailing After 2nd 3-32-1-1 10-28-0-1
Out Shooting Opponents 7-5-0-0 13-8-0-2
Out Shot by Opponents 16-34-2-3 19-22-2-3
1-Goal Games 15-5-2-4 14-4-2-5
2-Goal Games 3-9-0-0 9-5-0-0
3-Goal Games 3-11-0-0 6-11-0-0