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Vancouver is (5-4-0-1) over their past 10, while Victoria is (7-3) and earned ‘Honourable Mention’ for the CHL Top 10 rankings.
It’s part of three straight against the Giants, as the Royals won 3-1 in Vancouver last Saturday tying the franchise record for road wins with 16.
Patrik Polivka made 32 saves for his 20th win of the season and is now 9-2 lifetime versus the G-Men. Logan Nelson scored his 50th career WHL Goal, and Brandon Magee added his 18th of the season extending his point streak to 5 games (4g 3a 7 pts). Magee is leading the Royals in scoring with 46 points (18g, 28a) in 44 games.
Victoria is riding a 3 game win streak, and evened the season series with Vancouver at 3 a piece. The Royals are 3rd in the West, one point ahead of the Thunderbirds. With 33 victories, the club is 2 wins away from tying the franchise record of 35 set last season.
The Giants beat the visiting Blazers 5-3 on Wednesday, pulling them into a 6th place tie with the Everett Silvertips. Tri City is three points back in 8th.
Dalton Sward scored twice and added an assist, while Payton Lee made 16 saves for the win. Former Royal Tim Traber had 2 assists, as did defenseman Tyler Morrison. Vancouver’s power play was 3 for 4, and shut down Kamloops only man advantage.
Sward has 9 goals in his past 8 games, pushing him to 15 in an injury-shortened 36 games.
Vancouver’s first overall pick in 2013, 15 year old Tyler Benson played his 3rd WHL game and was held off the scoresheet. Their 2nd round selection (23rd overall), defenseman Ryely McKinstry played in his first WHL game.
The Giants are 1 over .500 on the road this season with 10 victories, while the Royals are 7 over .500 at home, with 17 victories in 28 games. Victoria only has 8 home games left of their remaining 21 regular season contests.
The Royals are the stingiest team in the WHL, allowing just 2.35 goals against on average per game. Netminder Coleman Vollrath leads all netminders in GAA (1.92) and SAV % (0.942). Patrik Polivka is tied for 2nd in league shutouts with 5, has recorded 20 wins and owns the 7th best GAA (2.52).
The Giants have allowed the 3rd fewest shots against on average in the league, and their power play has been red hot as of late. Vancouver has scored 8 goals on 10 chances through their last 3 games, boosting their man advantage efficiency to 5th best in the league. Against Victoria last Saturday they went 0 for 1.
Royals 17 year old defenseman, Joe Hicketts who’s missed 34 straight games and hasn’t played since October 26 with an upper-body injury, could make his return this weekend.
-Marlon Martens
Victoria Royals vs Vancouver Giants: Head To Head Stats
Summary
Description
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Result
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| Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season | Victoria 3-3-0-0 | Vancouver 3-3-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2012-13 Regular Season | Victoria 7-3-0-0 | Vancouver 3-7-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Victoria 21-23-1-1 | Vancouver 25-21-0-0 |
| Victoria vs. Vancouver Last 5 Years record at Victoria | Victoria 12-10-0-1 | Vancouver 11-12-0-0 |
| Victoria vs. Vancouver Last 5 Years record at Vancouver | Victoria 9-13-1-0 | Vancouver 14-9-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Victoria 3 @ Vancouver 1 (Jan 25 2014) Victoria 2 @ Vancouver 3 (Dec 10 2013) | Vancouver 7 @ Victoria 4 (Dec 7 2013) Vancouver 2 @ Victoria 4 (Dec 6 2013) Vancouver 2 @ Victoria 1 (Sep 21 2013) Victoria 4 @ Vancouver 2 (Sep 20 2013) |
How the 2 teams match up
Vancouver
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Victoria
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| Team Record | 25-19-5-3 -- 58 points | 33-16-0-2 -- 68 points |
| Division Ranking | 3rd B.C. | 2nd B.C. |
| Conference Ranking | 7th Western | 3rd Western |
| League Ranking | 12th | 6th |
| Past 10 Games | 5-4-0-1 | 7-3-0-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 5-3 W vs Kamloops (Jan 29 2014) Final | 3-1 W @ Vancouver (Jan 25 2014) Final |
| Home Record | 15-10-0-1 | 17-10-0-1 |
| Away Record | 10-9-5-2 | 16-6-0-1 |
| GF | 178 | 156 |
| GA | 176 | 120 |
| PP (Overall) | (50/217) 23.0 | (45/219) 20.5 |
| PP (Home) | (27/100) 27.0 | (24/126) 19.0 |
| PP (Away) | (23/117) 19.7 | (21/93) 22.6 |
| PK (Overall) | (39/222) 82.4 | (35/213) 83.6 |
| PK (Home) | (18/108) 83.3 | (21/123) 82.9 |
| PK (Away) | (21/114) 81.6 | (14/90) 84.4 |
| Leading Rookie | Baer (7-9-16) | Soy (10-10-20) |
| Most PIM | Traber - 129 | Carroll - 93 |
| Team PIM/GM | 15.0/Game | 14.6/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Popoff (11-44-55) | Magee (18-28-46) |
| Kulak (14-35-49) | Brown (10-31-41) | |
| Franson (18-27-45) | Blomqvist (17-21-38) | |
| Houck (27-15-42) | Carroll (22-15-37) | |
| Thrower (12-27-39) | Nelson (13-23-36) | |
| Last 5 Games | 5-3 W vs Kamloops (Jan 29 2014) Final | 3-1 W @ Vancouver (Jan 25 2014) Final |
| 3-1 L vs Victoria (Jan 25 2014) Final | 7-2 W @ Kamloops (Jan 24 2014) Final | |
| 10-0 W vs Lethbridge (Jan 24 2014) Final | 2-1 W vs Medicine Hat (Jan 21 2014) Final | |
| 6-1 L vs Medicine Hat (Jan 22 2014) Final | 5-3 L vs Kelowna (Jan 18 2014) Final | |
| 5-2 L @ Portland (Jan 20 2014) Final | 3-1 W vs Kelowna (Jan 17 2014) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 12-4-1-3 | 21-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 22-1-2-2 | 25-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 11-5-3-0 | 10-2-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 3-1-1-1 | 4-0-0-1 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-10-1-0 | 2-13-0-2 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 0-17-2-0 | 4-16-0-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 19-11-2-1 | 10-5-0-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 5-8-2-2 | 20-11-0-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 10-3-5-3 | 14-5-0-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 4-8-0-0 | 8-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 7-4-0-0 | 5-3-0-0 |
