The Revelstoke Grizzlies long road stint got off to a poor start with a pair of losses to the Kelowna Chiefs and Chase Heat on the weekend.
Revelstoke was in Rutland on Friday to play the Chiefs, who feature former Grizzly Ryan Pereverzoff.
Kelowna got off to an early 1-0 lead when Brody Dale scored a power play goal two minutes into the first period, with an assist from Josh Kobelka.
The game then went into a lull that was broken with 17 seconds left in the second period, when Dale and Kobelka combined again for a power play goal.
Trailing by two, the Grizzlies pulled their goalie with more than two minutes left in the game, but the gamble didn’t pay off. Tyson Taylor and Dakota Kittle scored empty net goals for the Chiefs to cap off a 4-0 win.
Chris Wielenga had a strong game in the Revelstoke net, stopping 25 of 27 shots in the loss.
On Saturday, Revelstoke was in Chase to face their division rivals, the Heat. The Grizzlies beat the Heat in their first matchup of the season in September, but this time, the game was dominated by the Heat.
Kaden Black and Kolten Moore scored first period goals for Chase before Raphael Bassot scored 32 seconds into the second period to put Revelstoke on the board.
After that, Chase scored five straight goals, chasing Grizzlies’ goalie Giovanni Sambrielaz from the net in the process. Sambrielaz gave up four goals on 21 shots, but his replacement, Wielenga didn’t fare much better, giving up four goals on 25 shots.
Chase capitalized on the Grizzlies lack of discipline, scoring six power play goals on 13 opportunities, including three in a two-minute span of the second that put the game out of reach.
Jordan Rae scored Revelstoke’s second goal of the game at 14:27 of the third period.
Revelstoke plays three more games on the road this week. On Wednesday, they’re in Kamloops to face the Storm, and on the weekend they head to 100 Mile House for games against the Wranglers on Friday and Saturday.
Revelstoke currently sits with a 4-7 record, good for fourth place in the Doug Birks Division.
