In a Tuesday night contest at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals went up against the Kamloops Blazers for the first of a two-game home set. The Royals started Patrik Polivka in goal while the Blazers sent Cole Cheveldave in between the pipes. The first period was a chippy affair between the two teams. Both Victoria and Kamloops would have chances on the powerplay, but Polivka and Cheveldave stood tall in their respective nets turning away all shots they faced. The tension between the two teams boiled over when Royals' forward Brandon Magee squared off against Blazers' forward JC Lipon. Magee was able to get a couple of punches in before Lipon grabbed him for the takedown. After 20 minutes of play the two clubs headed to their locker rooms in a scoreless draw. Matt Needham opened the scoring for Kamloops 1:51 into the middle frame. Cole Ully picked up a puck at the left side of the net and slipped it under Polivka to Needham at the right post. Needham tapped the puck into the net to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead. Steven Hodges tied the game for the Royals at 15:40 on his 13th of the season. Brandon Fushimi fed a pass to Hodges as the Victoria forward barged into the Kamloops zone. The puck skipped, but Hodges corralled it and split two Blazers' defencemen before he fired the puck under the blocker of Cheveldave as he fell to the ice. Ully pulled the Blazers ahead at 18:33 with a powerplay strike. The Kamloops forward grabbed a loose puck along the right wall and charged to the Kamloops net before he snapped a shot blocker side on Polivka. Less than one minute later Colin Smith scored his 28th of the season to extend Kamloops' lead. Smith collected the puck in the high slot before he spun and fired the puck low blocker side on the net minder. The Blazers headed into the second intermission up 3-1 on the Royals. Austin Carroll scored his 10th of the season at 1:26 of the third on the powerplay to bring the Royals within one goal. Parked in front of the Kamloops goal, Carroll redirected Joe Hicketts' point shot out of mid-air and past the goaltender. Alex Gogolev would tie the game at 9:21 on another Victoria powerplay. Gogolev picked the puck up in the neutral zone and sped towards a pair of Blazers defenders. The Russian forward deked through both defencemen and slid a backhand past the right pad of Cheveldave while under heavy pressure. Tim Bozon gave Kamloops another lead at the 13:04 mark. Brendan Ranford made a behind-the-back pass from behind the Royals' net to Bozon who fired the puck into the back of the net. Brett Cote pulled Victoria even once again with a powerplay goal at 14:59. Cote received a pass at the left point from Hicketts and rifled a slap shot glove side past the glove of a screened Cheveldave. Just 31 seconds later, Jack Walker would give the Royals their first lead of the game with a highlight reel goal. Carroll intercepted a Blazers' pass and found Walker all alone in the slot. Walker drove at the right side of the net before he made a quick move to his backhand and shelved the puck just inside the near post. Hodges' second goal of the night was yet another powerplay marker at 16:48 to increase the Royals lead to two. The Royals' forward accepted a pass at the top of the right circle and wired a wrist shot that beat the Kamloops netminder high glove side and sealed the victory for the home side. Royals 6 Blazers 4. Victoria went 4/757.1% on the powerplay, while Kamloops went 1/425.0%. The Blazers outshot the Royals 30-25. Victoria hosts Kamloops again tomorrow night for the second consecutive night at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. We are Royal Blue! Are you? 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.
