Sunday 1 March 2015

Preview: Seattle at Victoria, Monday March.2nd.2015

The Victoria Royals (33-25-3-1, 70pts) entertain the Seattle Thunderbirds (31-23-4-4, 70pts) for a pair of back to back games Monday and Tuesday.

Pregame show both nights at 6:40, with puck drop at 7pm on The Zone @ 91.3 fm, online: cjzn.streamon.fm

Both clubs are tied with 70 points in the West, and are tied in the season series at a game a piece.

Victoria is 10 games over .500 at home, while Seattle is 3 over .500 on the road.

The Royals have 10 games left in the regular season, sitting 2nd in the BC Division - 15 points ahead of the 3rd place Giants.

Recently Victoria won in Seattle 6-3 on Feb. 15th, when Jack Walker had a four point night including the hat trick.  The Royals fell on the road 5-4 back on December. 16th.

Victoria is looking to snap a two game slide, after dropping both games on a recent BC Divison road swing, falling by identical 4-2 scores in Kelowna and Kamloops.

Seattle is winless in 3 after a 5-2 loss at home to Portland on Saturday.  They wrapped up a 6 game home stand with a record of (3-2-1-0).

The Thunderbirds have just 4 wins in their past 10 games, while the Royals have 5.

Both clubs are in the top 4 in penalty minutes taken on average per game.

Seattle has allowed the 4th fewest goals against on average per game, with Taran Kozun in net.  Kozun has the #1 goals against average in the league (2.41), 3rd best save percentage (0.913), and is tied for 4th in wins with 28.  He was the CHL goalie of the week for Feb. 8th.

Top Prospect Matthew Barzal is ranked 9th by NHL Central Scouting, Shea Theordore won Gold with Canada at the World Juniors and is a first round pick of the Ducks, while Latvian Roberts Lipsbergs has 28 points in 23 games since returning from the ECHL Stockton Thunder.

Theodore has a 6-game assist streak on the go with 10 points over stretch, while Barzal is also riding a 6 game assist streak with 13 points in that span. Barzal also has 21 assists and 26 points over his past 14 games.

Victoria’s Joe Hicketts leads all defenseman in scoring with 56 points and league high 47 assists.  Travis Brown has the most goals by a defenseman with 17, and is 5th in rearguard scoring with 53 points.

Brandon Magee is on a 6 game point streak with 7 points (2g 5a), while Greg Chase has goals in back to back games.

- Marlon Martens

Victoria Royals vs Seattle Thunderbirds: Head To Head Stats Summary
Description
Result
Head to Head Record 2014-15 Regular SeasonVictoria 1-1-0-0Seattle 1-1-0-0
Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular SeasonVictoria 2-2-0-0Seattle 2-1-1-0
Last 5 Years record between teamsVictoria 9-5-1-3Seattle 9-7-2-0
Victoria vs. Seattle Last 5 Years record at VictoriaVictoria 5-2-0-1Seattle 3-3-2-0
Victoria vs. Seattle Last 5 Years record at SeattleVictoria 4-3-1-2Seattle 6-4-0-0
Previous Meetings This SeasonVictoria 6 @ Seattle 3 (Feb 15 2015) Final
Victoria 4 @ Seattle 5 (Dec 16 2014) Final

How the 2 teams match up
Seattle
Victoria
Team Record31-23-4-4 -- 70 points33-25-3-1 -- 70 points
Division Ranking3rd U.S.2nd B.C.
Conference Ranking5th Western4th Western
League Ranking10th9th
Past 10 Games4-4-1-15-5-0-0
Streak0-2-1-00-2-0-0
Last Game5-2 L vs Portland (Feb 28 2015) Final4-2 L @ Kamloops (Feb 27 2015) Final
Home Record16-11-3-219-9-3-0
Away Record15-12-1-214-16-0-1
GF181 214 
GA174 192 
PP (Overall)(55/247) 22.3(58/267) 21.7
PP (Home)(32/127) 25.2(33/128) 25.8
PP (Away)(23/120) 19.2(25/139) 18.0
PK (Overall)(50/241) 79.3(54/261) 79.3
PK (Home)(27/124) 78.2(22/125) 82.4
PK (Away)(23/117) 80.3(32/136) 76.5
Leading RookieNeuls (6-15-21)Nagy (6-6-12)
Most PIMWardley - 108Carroll - 114
Team PIM/GM14.5/Game14.5/Game
Leading ScorersGropp (23-24-47)Carroll (35-36-71)
Barzal (12-32-44)Hicketts (9-47-56)
Millette (18-22-40)Soy (24-30-54)
Theodore (10-28-38)Chase (19-34-53)
Kolesar (18-19-37)Brown (17-36-53)
Last 5 Games5-2 L vs Portland (Feb 28 2015) Final4-2 L @ Kamloops (Feb 27 2015) Final
5-4 L vs Prince George (Feb 27 2015) Final OT4-2 L @ Kelowna (Feb 25 2015) Final
3-2 L vs Calgary (Feb 24 2015) Final5-2 W vs Kelowna (Feb 21 2015) Final
7-0 W vs Everett (Feb 21 2015) Final3-2 L vs Kelowna (Feb 20 2015) Final
4-3 W vs Lethbridge (Feb 20 2015) Final OT4-3 L vs Moose Jaw (Feb 17 2015) Final
Leading After 1st19-3-2-217-4-0-0
Leading After 2nd23-3-1-122-2-0-0
Tied After 1st9-6-2-110-8-0-1
Tied After 2nd4-2-2-37-5-2-0
Trailing After 1st3-14-0-16-13-3-0
Trailing After 2nd4-18-1-04-18-1-1
Out Shooting Opponents22-11-2-120-7-1-0
Out Shot by Opponents7-12-1-312-16-2-1
1-Goal Games14-9-4-412-9-3-1
2-Goal Games6-5-0-05-8-0-0
3-Goal Games8-4-0-08-3-0-0