The Royals again, as in the 1-0 loss to the Silvertips a night earlier, dressed a much younger line up.
“We’re playing teams that have three 20 yr olds, and a lot of veterans in their line up.” said Head Coach Dave Lowry.
Victoria is without veterans Keegan Kanzig, Austin Carroll and Travis Brown who didn’t make the trip to Everett. Brandon Magee is suspended while Axel Blomqvist is with the Swedish junior national team at the Four Nations tournament in Europe.
“We have 9-10 kids playing each night, I really liked the way our young guys competed, sticking their nose in and working.”
Down a pair of goals heading into the final frame, the Royals responded with a pair from third year forwards Mitch Skapski and Brandon Fushimi before Ethan Bear notched the overtime winner.
Victoria also got goals from 16 year olds Matthew Campese and Jared Dmytriw.
Evan Smith went the distance for the Royals, stopping 35 of 40. The 6’6 Parker Colorado product is in a goaltending battle with Michael Herringer of Comox who stopped 23-24 in a 1-0 loss one night earlier.
“It’s exactly what we want. We want it to be a three-way battle for guys to play in the net and both guys who’ve played so far have done a real good job.”
The T-birds outshot the Royals 40-33, but Victoria outduelled them with the man advantage going 2 for 7, while Seattle went 1 for 3.
“They were keeping it simple, getting pucks in and around the net…” said Lowry on the success of the power play, “…just trying to take advantage of opportunities.”
The contest was physical, as Slovakian newcomer, forward Kristian Ferletak showed his gritty side according to Lowry,
“His first shift he had a couple really big hits, and that set the tempo for the game. (Seattle) came out and were physical – that’s the way they always play…with the line up we had, we matched it. (Ferletak) was one of the guys that was initiating it as well."
As for the younger players, more time is needed in the evaluation process.
“It’s still early, they’ve only played one game – some two. It’s going to be a battle, going to see this week how things start playing out.” said Lowry
Victoria wraps up the 3 game tournament in Everett Sunday morning at 11:30 against Tri City.
-Marlon Martens
Game Sheet: http://www.whl.ca/schedule/scoresheet/game/67923
(Remaining Games in Preseason Schedule below)
Victoria Royals 4 at Seattle Thunderbirds 5 (OT) - Status: Final OT
Saturday, August 30, 2014 - Comcast Arena - Everett, WA
Victoria 1 1 2 0 - 4
Seattle 1 3 0 1 - 5
1st Period-
1, Seattle, Hickman 1 (Sauer, Pederson), 10:03 (PP).
2, Victoria, Dmytriw 1 (Peckford, Walker), 17:06 (PP).
Penalties-Kohlhauser Vic (hooking), 0:50; Dmytriw Vic (interference), 8:11; Wedman Sea (tripping), 10:51; Wardley Sea (interference), 15:56.
2nd Period-
3, Victoria, Campese 1 (Soy), 5:21.
4, Seattle, Pederson 1 (Kolesar), 8:32.
5, Seattle, Kolesar 1 (Pederson, Eansor), 12:56.
6, Seattle, Wedman 1 (Osterman, Henry), 15:05.
Penalties-Smith Sea (tripping), 9:03; Wardley Sea (roughing), 18:47.
3rd Period-
7, Victoria, Skapski 1 (Ferletak, Kohlhauser), 5:51 (PP).
8, Victoria, Fushimi 1 (Phillips), 7:41.
Penalties-Kolesar Sea (cross checking), 5:01; Crunk Vic (roughing), 5:51; Sauer Sea (high sticking), 7:28; Spencer Sea (checking from behind), 18:27.
OT Period-
9, Seattle, Bear 2 (Kolesar, Pederson), 2:20.
Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-
Victoria 8-7-15-3-33.
Seattle 9-16-12-3-40.
Power Play Opportunities-
Victoria 2 / 7;
Seattle 1 / 3.
Goalies-
Victoria, Smith 0-0-1-0 (40 shots-35 saves).
Seattle, Mumaugh 1-0-0-0 (33 shots-29 saves).
A-0
Referees-Duncan Brow (19), Nathan Wieler (18).
Linesmen-Ron Dietterle (121), Zach Brooks (26).
PRESEASON SCHEDULE (REMAINING GAMES)
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Victoria @ Tri-City
Comcast Arena - Everett, WA
11:30 a.m.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Victoria @ Kamloops
UBC Thunderbird Arena - Vancouver, BC
3:00 p.m.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Victoria @ Kelowna
UBC Thunderbird Arena - Vancouver, BC
1:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Vancouver @ Victoria
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre - Victoria, BC
5:05 p.m.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Victoria @ Kelowna
Prospera Place - Kelowna, BC
7:05 p.m.
ROYALS COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AGAINST T-BIRDS IN OVERTIME
Victoria loses 5-4 in overtime to Seattle after third period rally.
For Immediate Release
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Everett, WA – The Victoria Royals dropped a 5-4
decision in overtime to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon at the Silvertips 11th Annual Pre-Season Classic
Tournament in Everett. The Royals battled back from
a two goal deficit after two periods, but Ethan Bear scored the overtime winner
for Seattle.
The rookies took center stage again
today for Victoria with 11 first year players in the line-up. Newly signed
goaltender Evan Smith got his first start at the WHL level for the island
squad. Victoria also saw the debut of their 1999 second round draft pick Ryan
Peckford who notched an assist on the Royals' first goal of the day.
The teams traded goals in the first
frame, but it was all Seattle in the second period as they outscored the Royals
3-1 to lead 4-2 after 40 minutes. Victoria controlled the third period with
goals from Mitch Skapski and Brandon Fushimi sending the game to overtime.
The Royals first two goals of the game
were scored by Jared Dmytriw and Matthew Campese. The other Seattle goal
scorers were Justin Hickman, Lane Pederson, Keegan Kolesar and Matthew
Wedman.
Evan Smith had a good showing in net for
the Royals making 35 saves on 40 shots. The Royals directed 33 shots on Seattle
netminder Danny Mumaugh.
A physical contest saw Victoria go
2/7=28.6% on the powerplay while Seattle went 1/3=33.3%.
Victoria scratched 20-year-olds Brandon
Magee, Austin Carroll and Travis Brown along with regulars Keegan Kanzig, Joe
Hicketts, Axel Blomqvist, Logan Fisher, Coleman Vollrath and Jack Palmer.
The Royals wrap up the three-game tournament in
Everett with an 11:30 a.m. match-up against the Tri-City Americans on Sunday.
Tri-City has dropped both of their games this weekend with a 4-0 loss at the
hands of Seattle on Friday and on the wrong end of a 5-2 score against Portland
on Saturday.
Season tickets start from $414 and mini-packs from $49
are on sale now! Call 250-220-7889, visit www.victoriaroyals.com, or head down
to the Victoria Royals ticketing office at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre to
pick up your seats and guarantee your spot at the September 26th
home opener
