It鈥檚 not exactly how general manager and head coach Craig Didmon drew it up, but the Victoria Grizzlies managed their third straight win and improved to 5-0-0-1 over Island Division rival Alberni Valley Bulldogs after a 3-2 road victory at Weyerhaeuser Arena on Wednesday night.
This one was far different from a pair of lopsided weekend wins in which the team racked up 16 goals in six periods of work.
Didmon鈥檚 crew had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit on the road. The team got the message across during a media timeout in the second period.
鈥淭hey came at us with everything. We had to make some adjustments to get more time in the offensive zone,鈥� said Didmon. 鈥淲e kind of looked in the mirror there during the timeout.
鈥淚t was like, 鈥楬ey, let鈥檚 get going here because there are a lot of great hockey players here, who haven鈥檛 done a thing.鈥� Then it slowly came. It wasn鈥檛 a 60-minute effort, but hey, it鈥檚 what you get on the road and we鈥檒l take it.鈥�
It did not start well for the Grizzlies, who were outshot 6-0 early and managed just one shot in the first 11 minutes of play. They trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes as Isaac Tonkin-Palmer finally got to goaltender Kurtis Chapman 16:13 in.
The new Grizzlies鈥� netminder faced 20 shots in the first and Victoria managed just five.
Tyler Vanuden made it 2-0 with shots 34-15 for Alberni Valley at the 15:46 mark of the second before Alex Newhook, the hottest player in the BCHL, replied at 17:15 for Victoria.
Newhook, coming off 10 points in three games, then assisted on Ethan Nother鈥檚 tying goal at 19:14 of the second. Victoria, somehow, found itself tied at 2-2 despite being outshot 35-17 after 40 minutes.
Then defenceman Carter Berger was credited with the game-winner at 6:21 of the third (although it鈥檚 expected to be changed to Newhook, who deflected the puck). Jamie Rome, who together with Nother and Newhook have formed a lethal forward unit, assisted on the play.
Victoria improves to 17-14-3-1 with Chapman stopping 42 shots, while the Bulldogs slide to 9-19-2-4.
The Grizzlies will wrap up the 2017 portion of their schedule at home on the weekend as the Cowichan Valley Capitals venture to The Q Centre on Friday and the Prince George Spruce Kings are in Colwood the next night.
