Recap: VIC 5 - BRN 3

Austin Carroll notched his 31st in a 5-3 Royals win, Credit: Quigley

Steven Hodges had a goal and two assists, as the visiting Victoria Royals (42-16-1-3, 88pts) scored four times in the first period enroute to a 5-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings Wednesday night.

Nelson (1g 1a)

“I thought we were great in the first period,” said Head Coach Dave Lowry,

“We really came out and executed the way we wanted to play, we had great pace, took pucks to the net and did everything we talked about how we had to play coming in.”

The Royals are 3-0 on their Eastern Division road swing after victories over Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, and have tied the franchise record for consecutive wins with 7.

It was Victoria’s 22nd road victory, with 9 consecutive off the Island, while collecting points in 14 straight games (12-0-1-1).  The clubs record since December 12th is (24-3-1-2).

Nelson buries his 20th, Credit: Quigley

Hodges line with Austin Carroll (1g) and Logan Nelson (1g 1a) combined for 6 points while Victoria heavily outshot Brandon 49-26.

“Going down the stretch you need your best players to be your best players, and tonight that line was really good for us…they could have had a lot more points…” according to Lowry.

The Royals built up period leads of 4-1 and 5-2 against a Wheat King squad that was missing 5 regulars and were winless in 6.

New York Islanders first round selection, defenseman Ryan Pulock opened the scoring, but just 16 seconds later, Nelson’s goal sparked the Royals to 4 unanswered.

The clubs exchanged second period goals and the Wheaties got a single power play marker in the final frame but ultimately fell.

Victoria also got goals from Tyler Soy (12th) and Keegan Kanzig (3rd), while Brett Cote was the 2nd star with 2 assists playing in front of friends and family in his home province of Manitoba.

Soy adds his 12th of the year to make it 2-1 in the first.  Credit: Quigley

Captain Jordan Fransoo was a +3 against his former squad.

Patrik Polivka made 23 saves for his 22nd win of the year, as Curtis Honey kicked out 44 of 49 in a losing cause.

Polivka earned his 22nd win of the year.

The Royals were 0 for 2 on the power play, while the Wheat Kings went 1 for 3.

Earlier in the day, Victoria was recognized as the 10th ranked club in the CHL Top 10 for a second week in a row.

Victoria faces Regina Friday and Saskatoon Saturday to wrap up 5 games in 8 days, an 11 day round trip.

-Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals 5 at Brandon Wheat Kings 3 - Status: Final
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - Westman Place - Brandon, MB

Victoria 4 1 0 - 5
Brandon 1 1 1 - 3

1st Period-
1, Brandon, Pulock 18 (Coulter, Pilon), 4:42.
2, Victoria, Nelson 20 (Cote, Hodges), 4:58.
3, Victoria, Soy 12 (Walker), 8:50.
4, Victoria, Hodges 19 (Nelson, Cote), 14:04.
5, Victoria, Carroll 31 (Hodges), 17:01.

Penalties-Bukarts Bdn (interference), 6:10; Carroll Vic (roughing), 19:47; Pilon Bdn (roughing), 19:47.

2nd Period-
6, Brandon, Coulter 8 (Lindgren, Roy), 9:00.
7, Victoria, Kanzig 3 (Blomqvist, Skapski), 11:26.

Penalties-No Penalties

3rd Period-
8, Brandon, Bukarts 22 (Pilon, Pulock), 17:15 (PP).

Penalties-Kanzig Vic (hooking), 1:05; Brown Vic (hooking), 9:33; Bukarts Bdn (interference), 10:12; Kanzig Vic (interference), 17:00.

Shots on Goal-
Victoria 21-14-14-49.
Brandon 6-10-10-26.

Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 0 / 2;
Brandon 1 / 3.

Goalies-
Victoria, Polivka 22-11-0-2 (26 shots-23 saves).
Brandon, Honey 10-14-2-0 (49 shots-44 saves).

A-2,702
Referees-Adam Byblow (23), Jon Stephenson (38).
Linesmen-Kelsey Mahoney (138), Andrew Stammers (136).