Grizzlies falter in road trip finale
Victoria back at it on Wednesday, taking on Clippers in Nanaimo
The Victoria Grizzlies failed to hang on to a 2-0 lead, allowing four straight goals in a 4-2 Sunday afternoon loss to the host West Kelowna Warriors.
The defeat capped a threegame road swing through the B.C. Hockey League’s Interior Division in which the Grizzlies managed a 2-0 win on Saturday in Vernon that followed a 5-1 loss Friday to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, who are ranked No. 18 by the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
The only other BCHL team in the top 20 rankings is the No. 2 Penticton Vees.
Victoria goes right back on the road, this time to Nanaimo, for a Wednesday night game against the Clippers before returning for Thursday and Friday home dates against the Powell River Kings and Cowichan Valley Capitals.
On Sunday, Brayden Gelsinger scored his first goal in 11 games and Mitchell Barker collected his first of the year (which came short-handed) as the Grizzlies led 2-0 after 20 minutes.
The Warriors roared back with two in the second period (from Quin Foreman and Liam Blackburn), then added two more in the third (from former Grizzly Garrett Forster and Kylar Hope) to clinch the win. Forster went to West Kelowna in an off-season trade for Gelsinger.
The loss drops the Grizzlies to 3-11-0-2 as they continue to be the lowest-scoring team in the league. Victoria was 0-for-7 on the power play on Sunday and is in midst of a 0-for-21 slump on the man advantage over the last four games.
Victoria’s struggling power play is ranked last (8-of-78 for a 10.26 percentage) in the 17-team circuit and has allowed a leaguehigh five short-handed goals, but its penalty killing is No. 5 overall at 85.25 per cent.
With the win, West Kelowna improved to 9-5-0-2 as Forbes Ploszaj made 36 saves in goal for the Warriors. Mitchell Benson stopped 33 shots in the loss for Victoria.
LOOSE PUCKS: Friday’s game against Cowichan Valley is the first of back-to-back home games against the Capitals. The Grizzlies also host Cowichan on Nov. 6.