The Victoria Royals took the early lead with three goals in the first period and never looked back, as they dropped the Tri-City Americans 5-2 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night.
Igor Martynov opened scoring at 2:58 giving Victoria an early first period lead.
Krystof Hrabik was able to tie game at 10:50 after a strong breakout pass from Riley Sawchuk. Four minutes later Hrabik took a checking to the head penalty giving Victoria a power play opportunity.
The Royals took back the lead and ended the Americans streak of 25 successful penalty kills with a power play goal from Ralph Jarratt. Logan Doust finished the first period with another to give Victoria a 3-1 lead.
Hrabik nearly tallied his second of the night after a second period scramble in front of the net. After video review the goal was waved off for gloving the puck,
Scoring resumed in the third period with a power play goal from Anaheim Ducks prospect Kyle Olson, assisted by Aaron Hyman. The Royals replied thirty seconds later with tonight’s insurance goal.
Notes:
Home Cooking: With their victory tonight, the Royals move to 5-0-0-0 in their first home game of a month this season. In those contests, Victoria has outscored their opponent by a margin of 25-17.
February: Tonight’s game was the Royals’ first contest in February. This month, Victoria will play 14 games, which includes eight on home ice.
Royals vs. Americans: Tonight, the Royals and the Tri-City Americans met for the first time this season. With the win, Victoria now holds a record of 5-1-2-0 in their first contest against the Americans in a season since relocating from Chilliwack in 2011.
Streaking: Currently, Victoria Royals’ forwards Igor Martynov and Kody McDonald are riding three-game point streaks. Over this span, Martynov has tallied six points (3g-3a), while McDonald has collected three assists.
A Royal Return: Victoria defenceman Jake Kustra made his return to the line-up tonight. Kustra had been sidelined since Wednesday, January 10th.