The Portland Winterhawks (0-2) fell 6-5 to the Royals (2-0) in Victoria Saturday in the second game in as many nights between the two teams
Skyler McKenzie opened the scoring for the Hawks 5:06 into the game with his first of the season to give Portland a 1-0 lead. Victoria evened it at 13:31 on a goal by Alex Forsberg, but the Hawks answered back at 17:36 when Paul Bittner scored on a rebound to give the visitors a 2-1 lead they took into the second period.
That was the appetizer for a wild second period that saw the teams combine for six goals.
The scoring began when Victoria tied it at 2-2 early in the second when Vladimir Bobylev scored on a power play at 1:37. Portland regained a lead at 8:40 when defenseman Caleb Jones took a feed from Keoni Texeira and wired a shot from the right faceoff circle past netminder Coleman Vollrath for a 3-2 advantage and his first career WHL goal.
For the third time in the game, the Royals evened it at 11:27 on a goal by Ralph Jarratt to make it 3-3, before taking a lead at 13:50 on Bobylev's second of the night. Less than a minute later the two teams tied for the fourth time when Alex Schoenborn scored for the Hawks to even the contest at 4-4. Forsberg rounded out the scoring in the period with a late goal, his second of the game, as the Royals took a 5-4 lead into the third.
The Royals took a two-goal lead 13 seconds into the third when Regan Nagy scored to make it 6-4. It remained that way until just under three minutes remained, when Colton Veloso scored on a 2-on-1 to bring the Hawks within one, at 6-5. With netminder Michael Bullion on the bench for an extra attacker, the Hawks mounted a rally trying for the equalizer, but the Royals came away with the win.
Jones finished with three points for the Hawks, while Schoenborn, McKenzie, Rodrigo Abols and Keoni Texeira all had two apiece.
The Hawks' next game will be next Saturday when they host the Everett Silvertips at the Moda Center in the Pacific Office Automation 40th Anniversary Home Opener.
Hawks fall 4-1 in season opener
The Portland Winterhawks (0-1) fell 4-1 to the Victoria Royals (1-0) Friday in their 2015-16 regular season opener.
The game was scoreless through nearly the entire first period, but after the Hawks had hit two goalposts it was Victoria who opened the scoring with a second to go in the frame on a goal by Jack Walker to make it 1-0.
The Royals made it 2-0 early in the second on a goal by Vladimir Bobylev, then extended it to 3-0 at 7:18 on a goal by Dante Hannoun. Victoria made it 4-0 on a goal by Ryan Peckford at 15:24, which remained the score going into the third.
The Hawks came out flying in the third period, and were able to break through at 13:10 when Carl Ericson led an odd-man rush and beat goaltender Coleman Vollrath for his first WHL goal. Cody Glass and Nick Heid picked up assists on the play, giving all three players involved in the goal their first WHL points.
Portland continued pressing, but the Royals came away with the 4-1 win.
The Hawks and Royals will be back in action tomorrow in Victoria at 7 p.m. Portland will then host their home opener next Saturday at the Moda Center against the Everett Silvertips.
