Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Ryan Murmaugh dives in desperation to stop Austin Carroll's (not shown) shot into the empty net during the second period of the Thunderbirds 3-1 win at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday (Nov. 16). Royals defenceman Isaac Schacher dumped the puck into the Thunderbirds’ zone and it took an odd bounce off the glass to Carroll.

Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Ryan Murmaugh dives in desperation to stop Austin Carroll's (not shown) shot into the empty net during the second period of the Thunderbirds 3-1 win at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday (Nov. 16). Royals defenceman Isaac Schacher dumped the puck into the Thunderbirds’ zone and it took an odd bounce off the glass to Carroll.

Royals on the road in Kamloops

Victoria Royals look to bump the trend against division foe Kamloops Blazers

The seventh-place Victoria Royals are out to prove themselves against their B.C. division rival, and last place Kamloops Blazers tonight (Nov. 19), in Kamloops.

Despite entering a rebuild year with just six wins in 23 games, the Blazers (6-14-2-1) managed to beat the Royals 4-3 in their only meeting earlier this season. The rivalry is the Royals’ biggest right now as the Blazers eliminated the Royals (13-10-0-1) from the playoffs the past two seasons.

Goalie Coleman Vollrath will likely get his fifth straight start. He let in just two goals in three of the four starts and just three goals in the other game. In the four games, Vollrath has lowered his goals against average to 2.06 per game, the lowest in the Western Hockey League.

Kamloops native Joe Hicketts will not play as he’s still recovering from an injury.

The Royals’ are just one point back of the fifth-place Tri City Americans in the Western conference standings.

Victoria News