WHL Roundup: Hodges with three points as the Royals snap 11-game winless streak

The Victoria Royals needed to catch a break and hosting the last-place Vancouver Giants was exactly that.

Steven Hodges scored twice and set up one more on Friday as Victoria downed Vancouver 5-3 in Western Hockey League action.

The victory was the Royals fourth in a row against the Giants, but more importantly it snapped an 11-game winless streak. Victoria's last win came back on Feb. 10th against the Spokane Chiefs and during their drought, both the Chiefs and Tri-City Americans passed them in the Western Conference standings.

Ben Walker and Brandon Magee each had a goal and an assist for the Royals (33-27-7), who scored just 22 goals in their 11 straight losses, while Jamie Crooks chipped in with two assists.

Jack Walker added a single goal to round out Victoria's offence.

Cain Franson had a goal and two assists for the Giants (19-47-2), who fell to 7-26-2 on the road, and Tyler Morrison and Alec Baer had a goal apiece.

Back-up goaltender Coleman Vollrath made 28 saves for his first win since Dec. 29th. Jared Rathjen turned away 24-of-28 shots in a losing cause.

Victoria went 0 for 4 on the power play while Vancouver scored once on four chances with the man advantage.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Swift Current 2, Moose Jaw 1; Regina 6, Prince Albert 2; Saskatoon 6, Medicine Hat 3; Edmonton 3, Brandon 2 (SO); Red Deer 4, Lethbridge 2; Kelowna 3, Kamloops 2; Spokane 6, Everett 3; Tri-City 6, Kootenay 4 and Prince George 2, Seattle 1 (SO).

At Victoria, the Royals opened the scoring in the first period with a short-handed goal from Magee at 7:36.

With time still remaining on their power play, the Giants answered back as Franson tied the game 39 seconds later.

Victoria regained the lead in the second period with a pair of goals from Ben Walker and Hodges, however the Giants answered back with goals from Morrison and Baer to make it 3-3 after 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, the Royals took their third lead of the game as Jack Walker buried a shot right off the face off 4:26 into the period.

Hodges added an empty-net goal at 19:19.

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Broncos 2 Warriors 1

At Moose Jaw, Sask., Adam Lowry scored both of his club's goals and Eetu Laurikainen stopped 25-of-26 shots as Swift Current (33-29-7) slipped past the Warriors (23-35-10), who lost for the first time in three contests.

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Pats 6 Raiders 2

At Regina, Lane Scheidl scored twice and Morgan Klimchuk had a goal and an assist as the Pats (25-36-7) handed Prince Albert (35-27-6) its fourth loss in a row.

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Blades 6 Tigers 3

At Saskatoon, Josh Nicholls had two goals and an assist and Andrey Makarov made 41 saves as the Blades (42-22-4) doubled up Medicine Hat (34-31-3) for their first win since having their 18-game win streak snapped on March 3.

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Oil Kings 3 Wheat Kings 2 (SO)

At Brandon, Man., Stephane Legault had a goal and an assist in regulation, then scored the shootout clincher as Edmonton (48-15-5) won its fifth game in a row by defeating the Wheat Kings (22-38-8).

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Rebels 4 Hurricanes 2

At Red Deer, Alta., Tyson Ness scored twice and Wyatt Johnson picked up two assists as the Rebels (38-24-6) beat Lethbridge (26-30-10) for their fifth win in a row and to guarantee home ice for the first round of the playoffs.

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Rockets 3 Blazers 2

At Kamloops, B.C., Jordon Cooke stopped 35 shots and Cole Linaker's second goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie at 9:15 of the third period as Kelowna (47-16-4) edged the Blazers (45-18-5), who had their four-game win streak snapped.

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Chiefs 6 Silvertips 3

At Spokane, Wash., Alessio Bertaggia scored three times and set up one more and Connor Chartier had a goal and an assist as the Chiefs (40-25-2) handed Everett (23-39-6) its third loss in a row.

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Americans 6 Ice 4

At Kennewick, Wash., Connor Rankin scored three times and set up two more and Brian Williams and Parker Bowles each had a goal and two assists as Tri-City (40-24-4) picked up its ninth win in its last 11 games by downing Kootenay (33-32-2).

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Cougars 2 Thunderbirds 1 (SO)

At Kent, Wash., Jake Mykitiuk scored the winner and Mac Engel stopped 26-of-27 shots through 65 minutes and another four in the shootout as Prince George (20-38-8) slipped past Seattle (23-38-9) to keep its playoff hope alive.