For the Reporter

The Victoria Royals defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 in a Western Hockey League game Sunday night.

The game was Seattle’s third in three days.

The Thunderbirds are 29-21-3-4 this season. Victoria improves to 32-21-3-1, good for second place in the B.C. Division.

Seattle’s Taran Kozun made the start and stopped 9 of 12 shots before being replaced by Logan Flodell, who stopped the only shot he faced in the second half of the first period. Kozun retook the net at the beginning of the second period and remained there for extent of the period, ending up with 23 saves on 25 shots in the game. Flodell stopped all 7 shots he faced in the third. In goal for Victoria was Coleman Vollrath, who stopped 28 of 31 to earn his 23rd win of the season.

A wild scramble in front of the Seattle net ended with the first goal of the game for the Royals. Kozun went prone to try and cover the puck, only to have it knocked out into the slot. The Seattle defense was able to block a few attempts at the puck before Victoria pushed it into the back of the net for the goal. Austin Carroll was credited with the goal from within the scrum, with Travis Brown and Taylor Crunk getting the assists at 3:52.

Brandon Magee set up behind the net and found Jack Walker skating through the slot to make it 2-0 Victoria at 14:00. The goal was Walker’s 13th of the season and came on the power play, with the assists going to Magee and Carroll.

The Royals scored again quickly, striking at 15:49 to increase their lead to three goals. Tyler Soy won the puck on the boards after a long fight with two T-Birds. Soy was then able to laser a pass to a cutting Walker, who scored his second goal of the game. Flodell entered the game after this goal.

Shots were 13-7 and faceoffs were 13-11 in the first period, both favoring Victoria.

Kozun returned to the Seattle net to begin the second period.

Jerret Smith scored Seattle’s first goal just 27 seconds into the second period, capitalizing on a power play. Mathew Barzal found Smith on top of the right faceoff dot with a pass from near the left sideboards. Smith’s shot flew under Vollrath’s pads to make it 3-1. Theodore had the secondary assist on the goal.

Soy scored Victoria’s fourth goal of the night at 10:26. The initial shot by the Royals was blocked but Seattle’s attempted clearance away from danger deflected off a body and found Soy’s stick near the crease. Kozun was unable to make his way across the crease after positioning himself for the initial shot, giving Soy an open goal. Walker and Joe Hicketts had the assists.

Scott Eansor brought it back to a two-goal game with his 10th goal of the season. Eansor circle around on the sideboards and brought the puck into the fringes of the faceoff circle before firing a shot on goal. The puck deflected off Vollrath and bounced into the goal, making it 4-2. The assists went to Keegan Kolesar and Theodore.

Carroll’s centering pass was tipped past Kozun by Alex Forsberg to make it 5-2 with just 10 seconds remaining in the second period.

Shots were 16-6 Victoria in the second period. Faceoffs were 14-13 Seattle.

Flodell was back in goal to start the third period. Soon thereafter the T-Birds found themselves on a five-minute power play after a checking to the head major penalty was called. Roberts Lipsbergs scored three minutes into the penalty to make it a two-goal game once again. Barzal skated up the boards and dropped the puck off to Theodore. The defenseman had to shoot quickly as the defense pressured him. Lipsbergs tipped the puck in front of the goal for his seventh goal of the year at 7:21.

Walker scored an empty net goal with 1:21 left in the game to complete his hat trick.

Seattle hosts the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 7:35 p.m. Friday. The T-Birds visit the Everett Silvertips at 6:05 p.m. Saturday.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Victoria, Carroll 33 (Brown, Crunk), 3:52. 2, Victoria, Walker 13 (Magee, Carroll), 14:00 (pp). 3, Victoria, Walker 14 (Soy, Chase), 15:49. Penalties – Jarratt, Victoria (hooking), 9:31. Gropp, Seattle (tripping), 12:05. Dmytriw, Victoria (high-sticking), 18:28.

Second period – 4, Seattle, Smith 7 (Barzal), :27 (pp). 5, Victoria, Soy 24 (Walker, Hicketts), 10:26. 6, Seattle, Eansor 10 (Kolesar, Theodore), 13:06. 7, Victoria, Forsberg 23 (Carroll), 19:49. Penalties – Bench, Victoria (too many men-served by Hannoun), 1:38. Chase, Victoria (unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:38. Kozun, Seattle (unsportsmanlike conduct- served by Pederson), 1:38. Spencer, Seattle (kneeing), 5:13. Kolesar, Seattle (kneeing), 15:35.

Third period – 8, Seattle, Lipsbergs 7 (Theodore, Barzal), 7:21 (pp). 9, Victoria, Walker 15 (Hicketts), 18:39 (en). Penalties – Fisher, Victoria (delay of game), :15. Gagnon, Victoria (major-checking to the head, game misconduct), 4:20. Brown, Victoria (tripping), 10:59.

Shots on goal – Seattle 7-6-18 31, Victoria 13-16-8 37. Goalies – Seattle, Kozun 28 shots-23 saves (26-15-3-3), Flodell 8-8; Victoria, Vollrath 31-28 (23-12-3-1). Power plays – Seattle 2-6; Victoria 1-3. A – 4,568. Referees – Chris Crich, Nick Swaine. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Ron Dietterle.