ROYALS COLLIDE WITH AMERICANS FOR TWO GAME WEEKEND
The Victoria Royals have a chance to make big inroads on the Tri-City Americans for fifth spot in the Western Conference this weekend. The two teams collide for back-to-back games at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Friday and Saturday.
The Royals trail the Americans by five points for that fifth seed and Victoria holds two games in hand. The Royals take a three game home ice win streak into Friday’s contest and own a 12-5-0-1 record in Victoria this season. The Royals home ice win percentage of .694 is sixth best in the WHL. After a 4-2 loss Wednesday night in Kelowna, the Royals’ record overall is 19-15-0-2.
Jamie Crooks, who leads the Royals with 18 goals on the season, extended his goal streak to three games Wednesday and his point streak to four. The Royals were without their top point producer Wednesday night, as Alex Gogolev missed his third straight game with a lower body injury.
This is the first game of 2013 for the Americans, who ended a two game slide on New Year’s Eve with a 6-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. 20-year-old forward Justin Feser is on pace for another 80-plus point campaign, with 21 goals and 44 points in 38 games this season to lead the Americans offence. The Americans also boast the top ranked goalie in the WHL for the 2013 NHL Draft in 17-year-old Eric Comrie, who has a 2.65 goals against average and .914 save percentage in 34 games this season.
The Royals won their first encounter with the Americans in Tri-City on October 6 with a 4-3 shoot-out win. Logan Nelson, who is out of the line-up with a lower body injury, scored twice and Brandon Magee had the other goal in regulation. After these two weekend games, the Royals and Americans will see each other again one final time on February 8 in Kennewick, Washington.
Puck drop for both games is 7:05pm. Guarantee yourself the best seats for upcoming Royals games by visiting www.selectyourtickets.com, calling 250-220-7777 or visiting the Select Your Tickets box-office at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Mini-Packs, Vouchers and special rates for groups of 10+ are available by visiting www.victoriaroyals.com or calling 250-220-7889.
