It was close, but no cigar.
More than 700 fans were treated to almost five periods of hockey before the hometown Victoria Grizzlies’ up-and-down season continued with a tightly contested 2-1 loss to the Nanaimo Clippers.
The first period started off well with the Grizzlies’ leading scorer Brayden Gelsinger continuing his point-a-game pace, sniping a power play goal from PJ Conlon and Cole Pickup just over a minute and a half into the contest.
The lead was short lived however, with the leagues leading scorer Sheldon Rempal doing what he does best, converting a power play goal just over six minutes later to knot the close affair at one.
The next three periods, including the first overtime frame were deadlocked without either team able to break the tie until the fifth period when Clippers’ Chris Dodero ended the deadlock with a goal from Edwin Hookenson and Nolan Aibel to secure the victory for the visiting mid Islanders.
The Nanaimo side holds a dominating 4-0-0-1 record against the Grizzlies this year with the loss dropping the Victoria Grizzlies’ record to 11 wins, 16 losses with 4 overtime losses and 26 points after 31 games. Their forth place ranking in the Island Division is 11 points behind Nanaimo who improved to 18 wins, 10 losss with one overtime loss for 37 points and the division lead.
alim@goldstreamgazette.com
