The Victoria Grizzlies came back to Weyerhaeueser Arena on Sunday, Oct. 22 with a vengeance, after losing in overtime to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 3-2 at their home arena on Wednesday, Oct. 18.
It had been the Bulldogs’ third win in a row, putting the team on a short-lived winning streak.
The rematch between the two teams looked like it would be another close one, tied 1-1 after two periods. But the Grizzlies notched a goal shortly into the third period, then grabbed another late powerplay goal before the end of the game. The Bulldogs, despite an impressive 38 shots on goal, were unable to tie things up, and the Grizzlies sealed it with an empty netter, taking the game 4-1.
“You can’t win them all,” said head coach Matt Hughes afterwards. “It’s a tough league to win in. We made a few too many mistakes today.”
He credited the win streak to the fact that the team has been working hard lately.
“We’ve been playing structured hockey,” he said. “We’ve had good goaltending.”
The Bulldogs have been working with what he calls a “1A and 1B” goaltending duo with Colten Lancaster and John Hawthorne.
“We’re comfortable with both of them in the net at the end of the night,” said Hughes.
The Bulldogs also faced the Prince George Spruce Kings for the first time this season at Weyerhaeuser on Saturday, Oct. 21.
“It was a well-played game,” said Hughes. “Slow and methodical in the first. Then things opened up the second period. We had a real good penalty kill in the double overtime.”
The game ended in a 3-3 tie, in what Hughes described as one of the most entertaining games of the season so far.