Rookie goalie Koltin Dodge faced a barrage of pucks in Revelstoke Tuesday night.
The 16-year-old, who played his fourth game in net for the Sicamous Eagles stopped 53 of the 60 shots he faced. His performance ultimately wasn’t enough as the Revelstoke Grizzlies took the win 7-0 and Revelstoke goalie Liam McGarva recorded his third shutout of the season.
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The Grizzlies started the month at home on the heels of a sold-out New Year’s Eve victory against the Kamloops Storm.
Revelstoke now has six more home games to look forward to this month, the most they’ve had in a month all season.
It’s something Grizzlies captain Tommy Bodtker said the team has been looking forward to.
“We’re happy to be home,” he said. “It’s definitely a good thing for us.”
The Grizzlies’ first goal in the first period was waved off as the net was knocked out of position.
Ullar Wiatzka opened scoring on a power play with 9:55 to go in the first period. David Lenzin added another less than a minute later to give the Grizzlies the advantage going into the second period.
Parent said he liked the adjustments between frames.
“We weren’t burrying all our chances around net,” he said of the first period, when the Grizzlies had 23 shots on the net.
The second period saw Jordan Robertson (at 6:58) and Bodtker (at 2:28) score.
The Grizzlies didn’t let off in the third either. Cole Golden picked up a goal with 18:27 to go, Evan Simpson scored a power play goal at 10:00 and Harley Bootsma sealed the win for the team with another power play goal with 2:30 to go in the game.
“Every game we can win puts us in a better position for first,” said Parent. “I like the game to game focus.”
The Grizzlies (21-5-2-3) are first in the Doug Birks Division and the Okanagan Shuswap Conference with 47 points.
They face the Eagles (5-28-1-1) in Sicamous Friday night before returning home to the Forum to take on the division’s second-place Chase Heat (21-12-0-1) Saturday night.
The Grizzlies will have to be on their A-game Saturday night, if they want the win.
“Chase always gives us a good game,” said Bodtker. “It’s a battle for first place.”
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