For a substantial part of Wednesday night’s Western Hockey League game in Kamloops, the lowly Victoria Royals (18-36-6) skated like they belonged as equals with the lofty Blazers.

Then reality set in.

A 3-2 Victoria lead late in the second period gave way to a perhaps all-too inevitable 6-3 Kamloops victory as the Blazers rattled home four unanswered goals.

The four Blazers power-play goals didn’t help the Royals’ cause, either.

“I was disappointed we didn’t get this [win]. I thought we could have had it,” said Victoria GM and head coach Marc Habscheid.

“I thought we were good over the first two periods and had urgency,” added Habscheid, who pointed to Bronson Maschmeyer’s 3-3 power-play tying goal for Kamloops late in the second period as the turning point.

Yet, maybe in the tale is a beam of hope for the Royals organization. The Blazers (42-14-4) are the top team in the WHL and ranked third in the BMO Mastercard Canadian Hockey League Top-10 poll in a dramatic swing after missing the playoffs last season.

The Royals played the first two periods like their season depended on it. Matters haven’t come to that — yet. But that point is rapidly approaching. It arrives in a not-too-subtle way on the weekend.

Only two points separate the Royals, Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips and Prince George Cougars in their dourly-paced race for the final two playoff berths in the Western Conference. With 12 games remaining, the Royals head up Highway 97 for a critical two-game set Friday and Saturday in Prince George against the Cougars.

The first period Wednesday ended 2-2 and featured power-play goals by two WHL rookie revelations — American Logan Nelson of the Royals, the 108th-ranked North American skater in Central Scouting’s mid-season listing for the 2012 NHL draft, and the Blazers’ fast yet strong Swiss standout Tim Bozon, ranked 39th by Central Scouting.

Bozon has 30 goals and 61 points, while the six-foot-two Nelson, who has a physcial dimension to his game and is not adverse to laying on the body, is at 21 goals and 54 points in their respective breakout seasons.

Jamie Crooks, the quietly deceptive forward who has a team-leading 32 goals, gave Victoria a 3-2 lead on the power play at 4:19 of the second period. But Maschmeyer matched that with a power-play goal for Kamloops that tied it at 18:37 of the second.

Then it was Bozon again as the WHL’s leading rookie scorer pounced for yet another power-play goal to give Kamloops a 4-3 lead at 1:37 of the third period. Maschmeyer’s second power-play goal at 6:20 was followed by a Matt Needham counter at 8:52.

Austin Carroll had Victoria’s first goal.

Jared Rathjen, getting a rare start in the nets for Victoria, faced 31 shots. Kamloops starter Cam Lanigan was forced into only 15 saves.

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