If you are going to break a record, you might as well do it emphatically.
That is what Tyler Soy did Wednesday night in Portland. But the host Winterhawks pretty much put a damper on any revelry on Soy鈥檚 part.
The Winterhawks (32-18-4) recorded an 8-5 Western Hockey League victory over the Royals (32-19-4). The game was in the Moda Center, which was appropriate, because it was the type of offensive fast-break that might have pleased the other tenant 鈥� the Trail Blazers of the NBA.
鈥淭here were lots of chances both ways,鈥� said Victoria coach Dan Price.
鈥淏oth teams played fast and hard. Portland was really opportunistic. But we allowed them to enter our zone too often in the first and third periods.鈥�
Soy scored a hat-trick to eclipse the all-time Victoria Royals/Chilliwack Bruins franchise record for goals and now has 142 in his career. The native of Cloverdale entered the game one shy of the 140 scored by former standard-bearer Ryan Howse.
Soy, the first Royals player to record 300 points in his career, earlier in the season surpassed former Royals/Bruins forward Brandon Magee to become the career franchise points leader.
Royals captain Phillips extended his points streak to 15 games with a goal and two assists. The Calgary Flames-signed prospect has 11 goals and 29 points in that stretch. Kaid Oliver scored the other Victoria goal. St. Louis Blues-signed forward Tanner Kaspick, who missed the last three games, returned to the Royals lineup but was not only pointless but minus-4.
Each of Portland鈥檚 four NHL first-round draft picks made an impact as the Winterhawks whistled pucks past rookie Royals goaltender Dean McNabb. Cody Glass had a goal and two assists, Kieffer Bellows two goals and blue-liners Henri Jokiharju and Dennis Cholowski two assists each.
The Royals return for a home set Friday and Saturday against the Kelowna Rockets at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre that could go a long way in settling the sa国际传媒 Division crown. Kelowna defeated the Vancouver Giants 4-1 Wednesday to move two points ahead of Victoria atop the division but the Rockets hold two games in hand.
