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Victoria Royals

Royals Edge Winterhawks

March 15, 2012 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Victoria Royals News Release


Victoria, BC - In a Wednesday night matchup in front of a sold-out Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Royals faced off against the Portland Winterhawks in the first of a two-game set. In net for the Royals was Keith Hamilton while Portland gave the nod to Mac Carruth.

Victoria opened the scoring on the powerplay after Ben Walker and Zane Jones played give-and-go behind the Winterhawks' net. Jones then dished the puck to Austin Carroll in front who shoveled home his eighth goal of the season at 4:45. Portland made it 1-1 following a turnover in the Royals' zone which landed on the stick of Ty Rattie. Portland's forward made a quick move to his right and slipped the puck through the legs of Hamilton. The Winterhawks would add to their lead just 19 seconds later when Taylor Leier collected his own rebound and poked the puck up over the right shoulder of Hamilton. After 20 minutes the Winterhawks led 2-1.

Victoria made it 2-2 on an individual effort when Steven Hodges stickhandled his way through the offensive zone and fired a backhand on net. Jamie Crooks jumped on the rebound and slapped the loose puck short side and over the right shoulder of Carruth. At 13:23 of the middle frame, Victoria's Jones took advantage of a turnover on the Portland blueline and broke in all alone on Carruth. The forward made no mistake when he fired the puck over the right shoulder of the Winterhawks' netminder. The Royals held a 3-2 lead heading into the final period of play.

Portland tied the game when Troy Rutkowski centered a shot from the right corner that deflected off of Oliver Gabriel and into the back of the net at 2:36 of the third period. Victoria regained the lead at 13:14 after Logan Nelson stole the puck at the Portland blueline. On a two-on-one, Nelson crossed a pass to Hodges, who finished off the play to make it 4-3. The Royals held off a furious late period push by the Winterhawks to seal the victory. Royals 4 Winterhawks 3.

Victoria went 1/3 33.3% on the power play, while Portland was 0/2 0.00%. The Winterhawks outshot the Royals 35-19.

Victoria finishes their regular season schedule on Friday, March 16th with the second of two against the Portland Winterhawks. Game time is set for 7:05 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Friday night's game will also mark the seventh sell-out for the Royals this season. For further details or to purchase your Playoff tickets today, visit the Victoria Royals Ticket Office, www.selectyourtickets.com/victoriaroyals, e-mail vrtickets@victoriaroyals.com. or call 250-220-7889.

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