Recap: Vancouver 3 - Victoria 5

The Royals won 5 - 3 against the visiting Giants Friday

Steven Hodges scored twice and added an assist to lead the Victoria Royals to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants Friday, snapping a franchise tying 11 game winless streak.

Vollrath earned his 3rd win of the season

“The guys are excited, you know it was nice to hear some music in (the locker room) tonight.” – Dave Lowry, Head Coach

Jack Walker broke a 3-3 tie in the third, and Hodges second of the night into an empty net sealed it for Victoria, who never trailed.


The Royals last win came February 10th in Spokane, going (0-8-1-2) in the almost month span since.

Morrison pokes in the loose puck.

“It’s good to get that monkey off our back, finally break that losing streak – it’s a big win.” said Hodges, “Losing is extremely exhausting…It’s not a good feeling, not something you want go through.”

The victory ties the franchise record for wins in a season with 33, and are now 1 point away from tying the franchise high of 74, held by the ‘10-11 Bruins (33-31-4-4, 74)

The 10 game season series wraps up in Vancouver Saturday night, with Victoria holding a 7-2 record, winning the last 4 against the Giants.

Brandon Magee fires a shot on Jared Rathjen

Coleman Vollrath made 28 saves for his 3rd win of the season, while his counterpart and former teammate Jared Rathjen allowed 4 goals on 28 shots for his 12th loss.



“I didn’t really talk to him or say anything, we know there’s that competition between us to see who’s going to be better…”  said Vollrath, “We all have to stay humble, we’ve got another two games in two nights, and recovery tonight is going to be important…”

Victoria was 0 for 4 on the power play but Brandon Magee scored short handed while Vancouver went 1 for 4.

The line of Jamie Crooks (2a), Brandon Magee (1g 1a) and Steven Hodges (2g 1a) combined for 7 points.

Alec Baer would score his 1st WHL Goal on this 2 on 1

“The coach has kept us together for 6, 7 games now, he’s given us a chance to get some chemistry and hopefully we’ll be able to stay together going into the playoffs now that we’re finding each other on the ice…” said Hodges who had the Gordie Howe Hat Trick and an extra goal as he fought Blake Orban in the third.

Ben Walker in his 100th WHL game had a goal and an assist, while defenseman Isaac Schacher collected his first WHL point with an assist.

Brandon Fushimi infront of Jared Rathjen

With the return of Taylor Crunk, the Royals had 7 scratches, 5 due to injury, plus 2 suspended.  Keegan Kanzig served the final of his two game suspension, while Tim Traber served his second of six games.  Victoria was missing Alex Gogolev, Trent Lofthouse, Tyler Stahl, Luke Harrison and Logan Fisher to injury.

After the game in Vancouver Saturday, Victoria will entertain Portland Sunday at 5pm to wrap up 3 in 3 and 5 in 6 nights.

Vancouver Giants 3 at Victoria Royals 5 - Status: Final
Friday, March 8, 2013 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Vancouver 1 2 0 - 3
Victoria 1 2 2 - 5

1st Period-
1, Victoria, Magee 30 (Hodges), 7:36 (SH).
2, Vancouver, Franson 28 (Morrison), 8:15 (PP).

Penalties-Walker Vic (hooking), 4:51; Fransoo Vic (tripping), 7:26.

2nd Period-
3, Victoria, Walker 19 (Carroll, Nelson), 4:23.
4, Victoria, Hodges 26 (Crooks, Schacher), 12:41.
5, Vancouver, Morrison 2 (Franson), 13:30. 6
, Vancouver, Baer 1 (Franson, Kieser), 17:00.

Penalties-Orban Van (boarding, major-fighting), 5:57; Deacon Vic (major-fighting), 5:57; Cote Vic (slashing), 8:50; Cooke Van (roughing), 11:58; Walker Vic (roughing), 11:58; Cooke Van (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 14:20; Nagy Vic (tripping), 17:53; Houck Van (roughing), 19:06.

3rd Period-
, Victoria, Walker 8 (Walker), 4:26.
8, Victoria, Hodges 27 (Crooks, Magee), 19:19 (EN).

Penalties-Orban Van (major-fighting), 5:23; Hodges Vic (major-fighting), 5:23; Geertsen Van (hooking), 8:27.

Shots on Goal-
Vancouver 13-10-8-31.
Victoria 4-15-10-29.

Power Play Opportunities-
Vancouver 1 / 4; Victoria 0 / 4.

Goalies-
Vancouver, Rathjen 4-12-1-0 (28 shots-24 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 3-9-0-2 (31 shots-28 saves).

A-5,393
Referees-Jason Cramer (57), Sean Raphael (28).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).