Sound defence, good goaltending and an excellent penalty kill are going to give you plenty of opportunities to win each and every night.
The Victoria Grizzlies are getting solid efforts in all three facets of the game as they have suddenly won three straight sa国际传媒 Hockey League encounters and four of their last six.
They will attempt to stretch it to four consecutive triumphs this afternoon at 2 at The Q Centre against the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings in a battle of the two lowest scoring teams in the league.
Victoria is tallying 2.30 goals a game while P.G. was at 2.11, prior to Saturday night play.
What Victoria is close to the top to, statistics wise, is the penalty kill as the Grizzlies鈥� 87.18 per cent kill efficiency sits behind just league-leading Penticton in that department.
The power play continues to be an issue, however, with the Grizzlies last in the 17-team circuit at just 11.70 per cent and going 0-for-5 in Friday鈥檚 2-1 win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
Victoria鈥檚 short-handed units were impeccable in the result, blanking the visitors on their six power-play opportunities including a full five-minute advantage midway through the third period with the game tied 1-1.
鈥淭hat kill showed their desire,鈥� Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon said of the turning point. 鈥淭hat defensive play has been solid and the offence is starting to come.鈥�
But, as they say, goaltending is also a big part of penalty killing and Matthew Galajda was good in his third straight victory and fourth in five appearances.
鈥淕alajda made a couple of big saves there, too, and our young kids like [Keyvan] Mokhtari are getting better every game,鈥� said Didmon, who uses Mokhtari and Welsh among his penalty-killing forwards. 鈥淭heir confidence is coming and that line [Mokhtari, Nick Guiney and Tyler Welsh] got a big goal for us [Friday].
鈥淢okhtari has great skill and speed and he is going to be a great hockey player in this league,鈥� added Didmon, of his young forward who was named Friday鈥檚 Fortis sa国际传媒 Energy player of the game.
This afternoon, Didmon may turn to backup netminder Mitchell Benson, who already has a 2-1 overtime win over Prince George to his credit.
Victoria will head to Powell River on Tuesday before travelling to Coquitlam, Merritt and Trail on the weekend.
IN THE DEN: P.J. Conlon鈥檚 game-winning goal on Friday snapped an eight-game scoreless drought 鈥� Galajda has allowed just four goals in his last three games, all wins against Island Division rivals 鈥� two versus Cowichan and one against Powell River.
Twitter/tc_vicsports
