When your team is struggling, you take your wins when they come.
And as the Victoria Grizzlies prepare for a B.C. Hockey League home rematch against the Island Division-leading Cowichan Valley Capitals this Friday (Nov. 6), they’ll be looking to build on the momentum gained from their longest win streak of the season, a modest two games.
The Grizzlies (5-12-0-2), coming off a painful 5-4 loss in Nanaimo last Wednesday, shrugged that result off and beat Powell River 3-1 and the Capitals 3-2 in the friendlier confines of The Q Centre on back-to-back nights to end the week.
Well-travelled BCHL veteran Dante Hahn, who’s scoring at a point-per-game pace since being acquired from the Coquitlam Express a couple of weeks back, notched his third goal of the season in the win over the Caps. Jake Stevens and Nick Guiney also scored for the Grizzlies, who broke open a scoreless game with three goals in the second period.
Matthew Galajda, who lowered his goals against average to 2.95 and raised his save percentage to .900, stopped 22 of 24 shots in the Victoria net. After losing his first seven starts as a Grizzlie, he’s gone 4-2 in his last six games.
Both Cowichan goals, by Ryan Burton in the second period and Adam Osczebski in the third, came while the Caps played shorthanded.
Against Powell River, Keyvan Mokhtari and Tyler Welsh each had a goal and an assist, while Hahn scored a single.
Last week’s game in Nanaimo ended in frustration for the Grizzlies, who led 3-2 after two periods and 4-3 with five minutes to go. The Clippers’ Devin Brosseau scored the tying goal with 35 seconds left, then Zach Court bagged the winner with just two seconds on the clock.
The loss spoiled a two-goal effort by the Grizzlies Colby Livingstone and a three-point game from Brayden Gelsinger.
This Friday’s game goes at 7 p.m. The Grizzlies follow that with a Sunday matinee (2 p.m. start) against the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
