They鈥檝e been there, done that, and now hope to do it all over again.
For the fifth time in these sa国际传媒 Hockey League playoffs, the Victoria Grizzlies are staring at a win-or-go-home situation, and tonight at The Q Centre they鈥檙e hoping to do what they鈥檝e done in the previous four elimination games 鈥� simply win a hockey game.
The Grizzlies are back to just trying to win one game, like they did four times against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the opening round, but the Powell River Kings hit Colwood tonight with a 3-1 series lead and having won the first two games of the series on the Grizzlies鈥� ice.
鈥淥bviously, going through some adversity in the Alberni series and being able to come back from 3-0 down gives us some confidence in that we know we can do it, and you saw that in Game 3 when we played our best game because we certainly didn鈥檛 want to go down 3-0 again,鈥� said Grizzlies centre T.J. Friedmann.
鈥淭hat being said, we鈥檙e in a not too favourable spot at 3-1 down but there鈥檚 plenty of confidence in the room that we can pull through.鈥�
If the Grizzlies are to climb back into this Island Division final, they will have to get their high-powered offence on track.
They鈥檝e yet to score more than three goals in any game this series and their power play, which was ranked No. 1 in the regular season, is a paltry 2-for-33 in the playoffs.
It doesn鈥檛 help their cause that Kings rookie netminder Matteo Paler-Chow has stood tall with a 2.07 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
鈥淚 think we鈥檝e been trying to get too fancy on the power play this series and making the big play so I think if we go back to keeping it simple and getting pucks through to the net, we鈥檒l be OK,鈥� said Friedmann.
Friedmann, who hails from St. Louis and has committed to Quinnipiac in the NCAA for the fall of 2019, is one of the Grizzlies鈥� big guns who has to start firing more often. The 19-year-old is without a goal this series after collecting two goals and two assists in four games last series before being injured. And linemate and fellow American Justin Michaelian has been held off the scoresheet by the Kings after leading the team in points with nine in the opening series.
鈥淭hose two have been a little quiet so far but we鈥檒l try to do some different things this time around at home in terms of matchups and linemates so we鈥檙e confident they鈥檒l get going,鈥� said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon.
One player who doesn鈥檛 need any spark this series is veteran centre Cam Thompson. The 19-year-old Victoria product now leads the team in playoff scoring with seven goals and three assists and he鈥檚 one of 10 players on the Grizzlies roster who were on the team last year when Victoria came back from 3-2 down against Powell River to win the series in a thrilling Game 7 that needed overtime.
鈥淥bviously, the guys who were here last year can draw from the past but this is a steeper climb, so we鈥檙e just going to have to focus on winning the next game and working as hard as we can to accomplish that,鈥� added Didmon.
If a Game 6 is required, it will go Saturday night back at Hap Parker Arena. A seventh-and-deciding game would be played Monday night at The Q Centre.
LOOSE PUCKS: Didmon said injured winger Ryan Nolan, who has missed the last three games of the series, will be a game-time decision. . . . The winner of this series will face either the Surrey Eagles or Prince George Spruce Kings in the BCHL semifinal series. The Spruce Kings stayed alive Thursday with a 4-1 win in Game 5 as the Eagles now lead the series 3-2.
