Recap: SEA 4 - VIC 2

The visiting Seattle Thunderbirds scored 4 goals in the third period to come from behind and beat the Victoria Royals 4-2 Friday night.

“At the end of the day, their best players were better than our best players,” said Royals Head Coach Dave Lowry,

“We have 2 shots in the third, you’re not going to win any hockey games playing in your own end.”

The Royals had their 6 game winning streak snapped, while the T-birds won their 2^nd in a row.

Seattle takes a 2-0 season series lead and will meet each other again Saturday night on Victoria’s turn back the clock night. The game will feature Victoria WHL alumni goaltender Grant Fuhr and former Royals’ captain Tyler Stahl.

The Royals held period leads of 1-0 and 2-0 on goals by Jack Walker and Ryan Gagnon, but goals by Keegan Kolesar, Ryan Gropp, Nolan Volcan and Alexander True turned the tables on the hosts.

Gropp and Volcan’s eventual game winner came just :52 seconds apart in the middle of the final frame. 

Matthew Barzal, the games first star earned two assists, along with Jerrett Smith and Ethan Bear.

Coleman Vollrath suffered his 6^th loss making 31 saves as Victoria was outshot 12-2 in the third period and 35-19 overall. 

“We were on our heels, we have to do a better job – that’s all.” Said Lowry,

“They turned it up, and we didn’t have an answer.”

Logan Flodell made 17 saves for his 7^th victory of the season.

Seattle’s 4^th ranked power play went 1 for 5, while Victoria went 0 for 2 with the man advantage.

It was the Royals first game back after a 6 game Eastern Division road trip.

“We’re not going to make excuses,” said Lowry,

“We lost the game in the third period, that’s uncharacteristic of our hockey team.  The best thing is we get an opportunity to get back at it again (Saturday).”

The Royals, ranked 6^th in the CHL Top 10, had their streak of points in 8 games snapped but remain first in the WHL standings with 29 points.  The Thunderbirds sit on top of the US Division with 23 points.

Puck drop Saturday at 7:05pm

- Marlon Martens

Seattle Thunderbirds 4 at Victoria Royals 2 - Status: Final
Friday, November 13, 2015 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC

Seattle 0 0 4 - 4
Victoria 1 1 0 - 2

1st Period-

1, Victoria, Walker 6 (Forsberg, Soy), 5:09.

Penalties-Osterman Sea (major-fighting), 9:54; Thompson Vic (major-fighting), 9:54; Kolesar Sea (interference), 10:28; Forsberg Vic (tripping), 12:41.

2nd Period-

2, Victoria, Gagnon 1 (Hannoun), 11:00.

Penalties-Dmytriw Vic (boarding), 8:40; Reddekopp Vic (delay of game), 9:38; Kolesar Sea (roughing), 10:49; True Sea (roughing, roughing), 10:49; Fisher Vic (roughing), 10:49; Hicketts Vic (roughing), 10:49.

3rd Period-

3, Seattle, Kolesar 13 (Smith, Hauf), 3:31.

4, Seattle, Gropp 9 (Barzal, Bear), 11:56.

5, Seattle, Volcan 6 (Smith, Wedman), 12:48.

6, Seattle, True 9 (Bear, Barzal), 16:44 (PP).

Penalties-Pachal Vic (high sticking), 5:06; Phillips Vic (tripping), 16:26.

Shots on Goal-

Seattle 12-11-12-35.

Victoria 5-12-2-19.

Power Play Opportunities-

Seattle 1 / 5;

Victoria 0 / 2.

Goalies-

Seattle, Flodell 7-3-1-0 (19 shots-17 saves).

Victoria, Vollrath 12-6-0-1 (35 shots-31 saves).

A-5,138
Referees-Adam Griffiths (36), Sean Raphael (28).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Jeff MacAdams.