Matthew Galajda had a shutout on the go the last time his Victoria Grizzlies played the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
The visiting Dogs rallied and scored a pair of late goals in that Dec. 8 game at The Q Centre.
Galajda made few mistakes when his team travelled to Port Alberni last night for the latest round in their season series, turning aside all 29 shots he faced in backstopping the Grizzlies to a 7-0 B.C. Hockey League victory at Weyerhaeuser Arena. It was the 18-year-old netminder’s his second goose egg of the season and lowered his goals against average to 2.48 per game.
While Galajda was solid at one end of the ice, his teammates put things together at the other.
Mitchell Barker and Cole Pickup scored twice each, while Dante Hahn and Jared Virtanen had a goal and two helpers each to lead the attack.
Following a scoreless first period that saw Victoria’s Drayson Pears and Alberni’s Josh Adkins tossed out after a scrap at the 15:14 mark, the Grizzlies got goals 11 seconds apart from Keyvan Mokhtari and Barker early in the middle frame. Virtanen tallied from Alex Peck to make it 3-0 later in the second.
Mokhtari and Bulldog Tristan Bukovec dropped the gloves with three seconds to go and were also booted from the game for their efforts.
A power play goal from Pickup, from Hahn and Kevin Massy, upped the lead to 4-0, 4:53 into the third, followed soon after by Hahn’s goal from Virtanen and Jake Stevens.
The Grizzlies, who outshot the Bulldogs 15-9 in the period and 34-29 overall, rounded out the scoring later on with goals by Barker and Pickup.
The Grizzlies host Nanaimo tomorrow (Dec. 19, 7 p.m.) in their last game before a 20-day Christmastime break. They return to the ice after that Jan. 8 at home against Powell River.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
