Royals bested in weeknight clash with Kamloops
Victoria, BC. — The Victoria Royals hit the ice at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tonight for the opening matchup of a mid-week double-header with the Kamloops Blazers. Tonight’s game was the first meeting of the two BC Division rivals this season, and the Royals were unable to outmatch the Blazers offence, falling with a final score of 11-1.
Roan Woodward opened the scoring with an unassisted marker off a short-handed breakaway at 6:11 of the first period. The Blazers responded with a goal from JP Hurlbert at 9:32 to tie it up, and the go-ahead goal from Jordan Keller at 13:41. Owen Cooper gave the Blazers a two-goal lead just over a minute later, and Tommy Lafreniere struck in the final minute of the frame to bring the score to 4-1 heading into the first intermission.
The Blazers took a four-goal lead with a goal from Jordan Keller in the opening minutes of the second frame. After stepping between the pipes after the first period, Royals goaltender Jake Pilon stopped 12 shots through the second period, but Jordan Keller netted his third of the game in the dying seconds of the frame to bring the score to 6-1 Kamloops after 40 minutes of play.
Kamloops added five more goals in the third period to bring the final score to 11-1.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
6:11 Victoria Royals Goal
Roan Woodward (27) unassisted
9:32 Kamloops Blazers Goal
JP Hurlbert (33) assisted by Joaquin Geras and Nathan Behm
13:41 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Jordan Keller (19) assisted by Isa Guram and Nathan Behm
14:05 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Owen Cooper (6) assisted by Jacob Dumansky
19:04 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Tommy Lafreniere (28) unassisted
2nd Period
1:36 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Jordan Keller (20) assisted by Nathan Behm and Josh Evaschesen
19:52 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Jordan Keller (21) assisted by Nathan Behm and Josh Evaschesen
3rd Period
6:07 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Tommy Lafreniere (29) assisted by Ty Bonkowski and JP Hurlbert
6:33 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Jordan Keller (22) assisted by Josh Evaschesen and Nathan Behm
12:00 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Ty Coupland (10) assisted by Vit Zahejsky and Joaquin Geras
13:16 Kamloops Blazers Goal
JP Hurlbert (34) assisted by Jordan Keller and Ty Bonkowski
18:11 Kamloops Blazers Goal
Ty Coupland (11) assisted by Cooper Moore and Joaquin Geras
Shots on Goal
Royals – 32
Blazers – 39
Powerplay
Royals – 0/2
Blazers – 1/2
Goalie Stats
Royals
Ethan Eskit – 5/9
Jake Pilon – 23/30
Blazers
Logan Edmonstone – 31/32
What’s Next
The Royals and Blazers meet again tomorrow night to close the back-to-back series. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
