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View Full Version : Victoria falls in special teams' affair to Kelowna 7-2



CdnSailor
09-04-2011, 12:49 PM
Victoria, BC - The Victoria Royals played the second game of exhibition match-ups with division rivals this weekend as they faced off with the Kelowna Rockets Saturday night. The Royals went with 19-year-old goaltender Keith Hamilton in goal, while the Rockets countered with 20-year-old Adam Brown.

The Rockets sparked a big first period when they opened the scoring at the 7:07 mark on a goal by forward Shane McColgan at full strength. The Royals got into penalty trouble and the Rockets special teams made them pay with three power play goals before the end of the period. Defenceman Madison Bowey extended the Rockets' lead to 2-0 at 12:27. Forward Colton Sissons notched another power play goal at 15:15 to make Kelowna's lead 3-0. Rockets' defenceman Tyson Baillie scored 16 seconds into the next Rockets' power play to make the score 4-0 Kelowna at 15:59. The Royals trailed by that score heading to the dressing room through 20 minutes and were out-shot 21-3.


The Royals were able to turn the table in the second period when they got on the board with a power play goal of their own. Defenceman Brett Cote cut the Rockets' lead to 4-1 when he scored on a 4-on-3 man advantage at 1:03 of the middle frame. Forward Lukas Kralik and defenceman Zach Habscheid drew assists on the goal. The Royals killed off a 49 second 5-on-3 Rockets' power play mid-way through the period, but defenceman MacKenzie Johnston made it 5-1 Kelowna with another power play goal at 14:14. That goal ended Hamilton's night after he allowed five goals on 27 shots in over 34 minutes of play. Jared Rathjen took over in net for the Royals. Brandon Magee scored the game's sixth consecutive power play goal at 17:27 for the Royals. Defencemen Kade Pilton and Jesse Pauls earned assists on the Magee goal that came with six seconds left on a Victoria two-man advantage. The second period came to a close with the Rockets leading 5-2. Victoria out-shot Kelowna 16-8 in the second period and trailed 29-19 through 40 minutes.


Kelowna got two more tallies in the third period when Zach Franko scored at 2:50 and Colton Heffley found the back of the net at 12:24 for a 7-2 Rockets' lead. Rathjen faced 14 shots in relief of Hamilton in the Royals' goal and stopped 12. The penalty filled game saw the two teams combine for 108 penalty minutes, 58 of those to Victoria. Rockets 7 Royals 2.


The Royals went 2-for-7 (28.6%) on the power play and the Rockets were 4-for-11 (36.4%). Kelowna out-shot Victoria 12-4 in the third period and 41-23 in the game.


The Royals will face the Vancouver Giants for a pair of exhibition games next weekend. The B.C. Division rivals meet in Ladner Friday night before finishing the two-game series in Maple Ridge next Saturday. The Royals only game in Victoria of the 2011 WHL pre-season will be played on Friday, September 16, against the Kelowna Rockets, starting at 7:05pm at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.