Dan McIntyre had four goals and one assist and Zac Borgiel stopped 32 of 34 shots as the Cowichan Valley Capitals trounced the Victoria Grizzlies 8-2 in their home opener on Saturday night.
McIntyre came within one goal of matching his total of five in 54 regular-season games in 2018-19. Borgiel, who opened the season with a shutout of the Nanaimo Clippers on Friday night, held the Grizzlies off the scoreboard for the first two periods before he allowed his first goal of the season early in the third on Saturday.
The Caps led 6-0 after two periods, then matched the Grizzlies 2-2 in the third.
Olivier Gauthier notched a pair on Friday, and Luc Wilson and Brady Lynn scored one apiece as holdovers from last year’s team provided all eight goals. Off-season addition Andy Bridgewater finished the night with three assists, and defencemen Dimitri Mikrogiannakis, Cullen Ferguson and Tyrell Boucher each had two helpers.
Bridgewater was also on the receiving end of a blindside hit by Victoria’s Isack Bandu after the Caps’ sixth goal — McIntyre’s third — late in the second period. McIntyre jumped to Bridgewater’s defence and was issued a misconduct for his troubles, but still returned in the third to score his fourth.
The Caps outshot the Grizzlies 43-34 on the night. The Grizzlies scored the lone powerplay goal of the night to go 1-for-5, while the Caps were 0-for-4.
This is the first time since 2015-16 that the Caps have opened the B.C. Hockey League season with back-to-back wins.
The Caps will be back at home next Saturday when they play host to the Chilliwack Chiefs.
