Saturday May 18, 2013


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    Blazers streak past Seattle, Victoria

    Murray Mitchell

    Matt Needham (14) of the Kamloops Blazers celebrates a goal in the first period against Victoria Royals Saturday night at Interior Savings Centre. Behind Needham is teammate Chase Souto (12) as well as Royals Ryan Gagnon (3) and goaltender Partik Polivka.

    And one more makes 13 . . .

    The Kamloops Blazers erased a 2-0 second-period deficit and beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 in overtime in a WHL game played in Kent, Wash., on Sunday.

    Centre Colin Smith scored the winner just 25 seconds into the extra period, beating goaltender Brandon Glover through the legs.

    The victory was the Blazers' 13th in a row, equalling a franchise record that was set in 1986-87 and tied in 1989-90. The Blazers will attempt to break the record when they meet the Silvertips in Everett on Tuesday.

    The Blazers also improved their record to 15-0-1 - they are 8-0-1 on the road - and remain the only one of the CHL's 60 teams not to have lost in regulation time.

    Smith also had two assists as he ran his points streak to 16 games. He has had nine straight multi-point games.

    Linemate JC Lipon scored twice and now leads the WHL in goals (15) and points (39). Smith is just one point back, while Tim Bozon, the third member of the line, is third, with 29 points. He had two assists last night. The three have combined for 106 points in 16 games.

    After a scoreless first period, the teams combined for six second-period goals, with Seattle forwards Connor Honey and Brendan Rouse first to beat Kamloops goaltender Taran Kozun.

    Lipon, on a power play, and defenceman Sam Grist pulled the Blazers even, only to have defenceman Shea Theodore go coast-to-coast and beat Kozun to put Seattle out front again.

    Lipon scored at 13:32 of the second and, as it turned out, that goal forced OT.

    Kozun finished with 26 saves, 10 fewer than Glover.

    The Blazers had won their 12th straight game on Saturday, scoring four times in the first period, three of them via their No. 1-ranked power play, en route to a 5-2 victory over the Victoria Royals at Interior Savings Centre.

    One night earlier, the Blazers had struck for five first-period goals en route to an 8-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings.

    Against Victoria, the Blazers got eight points from their big line as Smith and Bozon each had two goals and an assist, and Lipon added two assists.

    Matt Needham and Jordan DePape also scored for the Blazers, while defenceman Marek Hrbas, who had a tremendous game, drew two assists.

    Outshot 14-5 in the first period, the Royals came back with a vengeance, scoring twice in the second period when they held a 17-5 edge in shots.

    "In that second period," Kamloops defenceman Tyler Hansen said of goaltender Cole Cheveldave, "he really kept us in with three or four big saves to keep the score up by two instead of a tie game or worse."

    Veteran forwards Jamie Crooks and Brandon Magee scored for Victoria, which got 28 saves from goaltender Patrik Polivka.

    JUST NOTES: Attendance on Saturday was 4,858. . . . Smith's second goal on Saturday, his third point of the game, gave him 200 regular-season points in 215 games. . . . Hansen played in his 200th regular-season game. . . . Kamloops F Aspen Sterzer missed the three weekend games while attending a grandmother's funeral in Calgary. He is expected to rejoin the team in time to play Tuesday. . . . D Austin Madaisky, 20, played his first professional game Saturday, going pointless as his Evansville Icemen dropped a 4-1 decision to the Wings in Kalamazoo. He had an assist, on the power play, and four shots on goal, and was minus-2 in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the visiting Gwinnett Gladiators. . . . Veteran D Tyler Stahl, 20, was named captain of the Royals last week but has yet to play while wearing the 'C'. He suffered an injury on Oct. 18 has missed his club's last three games. . . . F Drew Czerwonka, 20, the captain of the Kootenay Ice, announced his retirement on Friday. He has battled injuries for the last two seasons. Czerwonka called Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth on Thursday night and told him of his decision.

    gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

    gdrinnan.blogspot.com

    twitter.com/gdrinnan

    Going streaking

    Kamloops Blazers’ winning streaks:

    13 games — 1986-87, 1989-90, 2012-13,

    12 games — 1984-85, 2012-13.

    11 games — 1989-99, 1985-86.

    10 games — 1994-95, 1993-94 (twice), 1989-90, 1985-86, 1982-83.


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