Grizzlies make up for lapses by scoring six

VICTORIA 6 ALBERNI VALLEY 2

In a battle of first versus the worst in the Island Division of the B.C. Hockey League on Saturday night, it was tough to tell which team was which, at least early on.

The bottom-feeding Alberni Valley Bulldogs scored twice in the first 1:05 of the game before the first-place Victoria Grizzlies roared back to muzzle the ’Dawgs in a 6-2 win at The Q Centre.

It took Cayden Kraus just 41 seconds to give the visitors the lead. Ryan Steele upped it to 2-0 just 24 seconds later, before Nick Guiney and Sage England tied it with goals 1:13 apart midway through the first period for the Grizzlies.

“We’ve been talking about playing 60 minutes. I think they put together 58 minutes and 55 seconds,” said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon. “It didn’t start well, but it shows — we get down 2-0 and all of a sudden we get desperate and it’s 2-2 before you know it.”

It was far from a defensive gem, but it wasn’t unexpected, especially from the Bulldogs’ perspective. Alberni, now 4-11-0-1 in the standings, have allowed 63 goals against, fourth worst in the league.

Furthermore, the ’Dawgs have now lost eight straight games, including a 5-4 double-overtime setback on Friday against the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Alberni’s goal-differential is a dismal -28. In comparison, the Grizzlies are +17, with 60 goals for and 43 against.

Keyvan Mokhtari scored two goals 3:26 apart early in the second period to break the 2-2 tie and he later added an empty-netter for the hat trick.

Lucas Clark also tallied and defenceman Jake Stevens had three assists for the Grizzlies, who improve to 9-2-2-3 and have points in 10 of their last 11 games. They are an impressive 7-1-1-1 against Island Division teams.

Matthew Galajda, who had allowed two goals on his first four shots, made 25 saves on the night. Bulldogs starter Carson Schamerhorn faced 41 shots.

Victoria now heads out on the road next weekend to Chilliwack, Salmon Arm and Trail.