The Powell River Kings held a decided advantage over the Island Division champion Victoria Grizzlies this regular season.
The Sunshine Coast squad hopes to continue that trend tonight (March 21) on home ice, as they take a 2-1 lead into game 4 of the teams’ B.C. Hockey League best-of-seven Island playoff final.
The Kings erased a 1-0 Grizzlies lead in the third period Monday, scoring twice and holding off a concerted Victoria attack to post a 2-1 victory. Cam Donaldson bagged the winning goal 12:41 into the final frame.
Jamie Rome opened the scoring for the Grizzlies late in the second period.
Then the Kings’ Kyle Betts tied it up 5:13 into the third, ending Victoria goalie Matthew Galajda’s shutout string of more than 105 minutes.
The Grizzlies outshot the Kings 16-8 in the third, with Brian Wilson making some outstanding saves along the way to preserve the win. He stopped 37 shots in all, while Galajda finished with 33 saves.
Game 5 sees the teams return to The Q Centre for a 7 p.m. start. Game 6, if necessary, would return to Powell River for Saturday night, while game 7 would be played back in Colwood next Monday. Find ticket details at victoriagrizzlies.com.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
Previous stories on the series:
Galajda comes up big, BCHL Grizzlies find scoring touch to win game 2 vs. Kings
Kings need double overtime to grab game 1 win against Grizzlies
