The Cowichan Valley Capitals earned three out of a possible four points last weekend as they dealt the previously unbeaten Victoria Grizzlies their first loss of the young B.C. Hockey League campaign on Saturday then took the high-powered Penticton Vees to overtime on Sunday.
The Caps had played their worst game of the season in a 6-1 defeat by the Grizzlies last Tuesday, but showed it to be an aberration when they won 2-1 at the Q Centre on Saturday.
“It was a big rebound game against Victoria,” Cowichan head coach Bob Beatty said. “The effort was better than it was last Tuesday. It was great to get a win against them.”
After a scoreless first period, Capitals forward Rhett Kingston opened the scoring with his first BCHL goal midway through the second. The Grizzlies drew even at 11:06 of the third, but Jared Domin notched his second of the year just over three minutes later, and it held up as the game-winner.
“It was a little bit of a choppy game, but at the same time, the effort level was there,” Beatty said. “We needed to have a strong effort after Tuesday’s performance.”
The Caps gave up the first goal of Sunday’s game just 24 seconds in, then fell behind 2-0 at the four-minute mark. Blueliner Josh Owings got Cowichan on the board at 3:56 of the second, then set up Domin’s third of the season on the powerplay at 9:42 to knot the score. Grant Cruikshank completed his hat trick for the Vees early in the third, but Ayden MacDonald drew the Caps even again with another powerplay goal at 4:45.
The teams went scoreless through five minutes of four-on-four overtime, then Chris Klack gave the Vees the victory a minute and 22 seconds into the three-on-three session.
“Obviously we were down early in the game, but we battled back,” Beatty said. “It was good to see the pushback. It was a heartbreaker to lose in double overtime, but to get three out of four points on the weekend with those opponents, you have to be satisfied.
“They’re a very good team, certainly. They always are. It was good to claw our way back into the game twice, but it would have been really nice to cap it off with a win.”
Lane Michasiw started both games in net, and made 29 saves for the win on Saturday and 33 in Sunday’s loss.
“Lane had a good weekend,” Beatty said. “He played great. And our defence was solid. They were much better as a unit than they were on Tuesday night.”
The Caps will head to Chilliwack later this week for the annual BCHL Bauer Showcase. They face the Surrey Eagles in a “road” game on Thursday and the Merritt Centennials in a “home” game on Friday.
The Showcase gives university scouts a chance to see all 17 BCHL teams in the same city on one weekend, and sometimes players get caught up in trying to impress the eyes in the stands.
“It is a showcase, so we have to make sure everybody is in sync and not trying to do too much with all the jackets in the stands,” Beatty said. “There might be a tendency to do something fancy that might have a little too much risk involved. Coaches at the next level are looking for dependable players, not somebody that’s extra fancy.”
The Eagles had the league’s worst record in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and are winless so far this year, although three of their losses have been decided by a single goal.
“They’re a much-improved team,” Beatty said. “They’re a lot better than last year. They have a solid lineup. They haven’t had much success, but we’ll have our hands full.”
The Centennials have yet to lose a game this year, with two wins and one tie.
“They’re returning a lot of players,” Beatty said. “I’ve been told by coaches in their divisions that they’re going to be very good.”
