The Victoria Royals were scooped up by the Winterhawks 5—4 in overtime on Saturday night.
The match began with Royals’ Nolan Bentham scoring his first Western Hockey League (WHL) goal of his career. The 16-year-old now has one goal and two assists for the 50 games played this season.
By the end of the first period, Kaid Oliver had sunk another puck in the net from a rebound, leaving the score at 2–0. Portland took it’s first goal of the night five minutes in, but not before Oliver smashed a shot from centre ice later in the round.
With less than two minutes in the second, the Winterhawks cinched their second and third goals of the night, tying the scoreboard up. The third period saw a rousing back-and-forth, as Tarun Fizer snapped in a goal with three minutes left, but not before Portland tied it up once again just 22 seconds from the end of the game.
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Forced into overtime, the Royals battled hard, but fell with five minutes left on the clock as the Winterhawks took the win 5–4.
Victoria is still missing four regular players out due to injuries: goalie Shane Farkas, defenceman Noah Lamb, and forwards Graeme Byrks and Riley Gannon.
The Royals will play two-games against the Prince George Cougars at home on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m. for both games and tickets can be bought in person at the Select Your Tickets box office, over the phone by calling 250-220-7777, or online at www.selectyourtickets.com.
aaron.guillen@goldstreamgazette.com
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