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| Tyler Soy had a 4pt night |
Tyler Soy had a 4 points, while Vladimir
Bobylev scored twice for a 3 point night as the Victoria Royals (40-16-3-3, 86pts)
doubled the visiting Kamloops Blazers 6-3 Saturday night in front of a sold out
Pink in the Rink crowd.
Victoria moves
into sole possession of first place in the WHL, leapfrogging Kelowna
(85pts) who lost in Vancouver. The Rockets however, have two games in hand.
“I think it feels great…what we have to do, is keep
things in perspective,” Said Head Coach Dave Lowry.
“Credit to the guys that go out and play each night –
they’ve played the same way from Day 1. They
believe in what we’re doing here. It’s
evident in the way that they play, the way they look after each other. This is an unbelievable team, but the one
thing is – they really care and respect each other.”
The Royals swept the Blazers in the two game set after winning
4-1 Friday night, and now have points in 4 straight (3-0-1-0), riding a 3 game
win streak.
“It’s a great feeling…” Said Soy on taking top spot in
the league.
“When people are counting you out at the start of the
year and you come up and win games you’re not supposed to win, and proving
people wrong – it’s a good feeling…”
Soy had a goal (34th) and three assists, leading
the club in goals.
Victoria earned
their 40th win of the season, and a franchise high 9th consecutive
home win. The Royals tie the clubs
record for most home wins in a season with 22.
“In order for us to be successful we’re going to have to
play a good team game, we’re going to have to get scoring throughout our line
up, our special teams were going to have to be good, and our goaltending was
going to have to be exceptional.” Said Lowry on the message from Day 1 to
be successful.
Victoria never
trailed, leading 2-1 after 20 minutes and 3-2 after 40. The Royals outscored the Blazers 3-1 in the
third, while playing 6 games in 8 nights.
“We know that we have a week off, so what we had to do is
push ourselves and mentally challenge ourselves to get over this hump – this is
what happens when you have a strong group, and really good leadership.” mentioned
Lowry,
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| Coleman Vollrath |
“They challenge each other, to push each other - and get
rewarded.”
Coleman Vollrath earned the win, making 30 saves, while
Lantzville product Dylan Ferguson allowed 6 goals on 41 Royal shots.
Victoria was 2
for 5 on the power play, while stopping 5 of 6 visitor man advantages.
Bobylev scored both of his goals in the first period, the
first just :27 seconds in. Kamloops
captain Matt Needham sandwiched his goal in between.
Tyler Soy deked out Dylan Ferguson on a short handed
breakaway in the second period to give the club a two goal lead, however with
just 4.9 seconds left in the middle frame, Spencer Bast struck to bring the
visitors within one.
Jack Walker got the home team up by a pair 4-2 on the power
play early in the third, but just 1:17 later, former Royal forward Matthew
Campese tapped in a rebound to bring the Blazers again to within one 4-3.
Dante Hannoun responded just :21 seconds later, converting a
great feed from Alex Forsberg to restore the 2 goal lead.
“I really liked our resiliency…even after we scored a
goal, we gave up one right back and then we went out, and took over.” Said Lowry
Matthew Phillips scored on the power play with less than a
minute in regulation to make it 6-3, recording his 32nd, tying the franchise
record for goals by a rookie with Oscar Moller.
The line of Bobylev (2g 1a), Soy (1g 3a), and Walker
(1g 1a) combined for 9 points. They also
earned all 3 stars of the game, in respective order.
Captain Joe Hicketts chipped in with a pair of assists,
playing against his hometown team.
“We’ve put a lot of hard work in over the last couple
weeks…” said Hicketts,
“And to see it pay off in that sense…it’s going to be
important that we keep playing the way are.”
Victoria kicks
off a 4 game road trip Friday night in Calgary.
- Marlon Martens
Kamloops Blazers
3 at Victoria Royals 6 - Status:
Final
Saturday, February 20, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Kamloops 1 1 1 - 3
Victoria 2 1 3 - 6
1st Period-
Saturday, February 20, 2016 - Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena - Victoria, BC
Kamloops 1 1 1 - 3
Victoria 2 1 3 - 6
1st Period-
1, Victoria,
Bobylev 20 (Ibragimov, Soy), 0:27.
2, Kamloops, Needham
17 (Sideroff, Davidson), 8:32 (PP).
3, Victoria, Bobylev 21 (Soy, Walford), 14:58.
Penalties-Benjafield Kam (tripping), 1:10; Soy Vic (slashing), 7:49;
Ibragimov Vic (interference), 7:57.
2nd Period-
2nd Period-
4, Victoria,
Soy 34 6:42 (SH).
5, Kamloops,
Bast 3 (Smejkal), 19:55.
Penalties-Pachal Vic (tripping), 2:23; Walker Vic (cross checking), 4:49; Campese Kam (hooking), 8:02;
Smejkal Kam (cross checking), 17:26.
3rd Period-
3rd Period-
6, Victoria, Walker 26 (Hicketts, Bobylev), 2:40 (PP).
7, Kamloops,
Campese 8 (Bast, Davidson), 3:57.
8, Victoria, Hannoun 23 (Forsberg, Hicketts), 4:18.
9, Victoria, Phillips 32 (Walker,
Soy), 19:24 (PP).
Penalties-Vala Kam (slashing), 2:09;
Bobylev Vic (tripping, unsportsmanlike cnd.), 9:56;
Vala Kam (tripping), 19:03.
Shots on Goal-
Shots on Goal-
Kamloops 11-12-10-33.
Victoria
14-16-11-41.
Power Play Opportunities-
Kamloops 1 / 6;
Victoria 2 /
5.
Goalies-
Kamloops, Ferguson
3-10-0-0 (41 shots-35 saves).
Victoria, Vollrath 26-13-0-2 (33 shots-30 saves).
A-7,006
Referees-Reid Anderson (53), Ryan Benbow (62).
Linesmen-Riley Friesen (76), Kirk Van Helvoirt (107).
