Down 3-1 in the best-of-seven sa国际传媒 Hockey League semifinal series against the Chilliwack Chiefs, the Victoria Grizzlies are going to have to scratch and claw their way back, beginning with Game 5 tonight at Prospera Centre.
Facing elimination, the Grizzlies need a win tonight to bring the best-of-seven back to The Q Centre for Saturday night.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not out of it yet,鈥� insisted captain Cody Van Lierop. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a game in their barn, we鈥檝e already taken one there so we know we can do it. I think everyone in our room realizes we鈥檙e fighting for our lives now and I think you鈥檒l see our best game out there.鈥�
Van Lierop, for one, does not want this to be his last junior game ever.
鈥淚 know for me, it鈥檚 my 20-year-old year and there are five other guys where it鈥檚 do-or-die for them, too. I know that they鈥檙e going to pour their hearts on the ice, just the way I鈥檓 going to, so don鈥檛 count us out yet,鈥� he added.
They are expected to do it without starting netminder Matthew Galajda, who left Wednesday鈥檚 4-3 loss in Game 4 with what was preliminarily being called a concussion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough blow,鈥� Van Lierop said of losing the Island Division鈥檚 most valuable player and BCHL second-team all-star. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see the whole play, but I heard the guy fell into him a little bit.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big loss, but I know Tony is going to give us just as good an opportunity as Matthew does. We have to just play strong in front of him and make sure we put more pucks on the net than they do,鈥� Van Lierop said of playing in front of backup Tony Rehm.
Westshore Wolves netminder Shawn Parkinson is expected to be called in as a backup for Rehm.
Victoria managed to bounce back from a 3-2 games deficit against Powell River to win the last series. This will be a taller order.
鈥淲e have to play the way we鈥檙e playing. We鈥檙e getting stronger as it goes. This series started with a real uphill battle and the playing field is starting to even out. We have to do one more better than we did last series as far as winning two in a row,鈥� said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to go in [today] and focus on living to play another day in our barn. We鈥檝e got a great leadership group here and they want it. They are battlers,鈥� he said of his 20-year-olds.
The good news is the Grizzlies did win the last time they met at Prospera Centre, but a big reason for that was Galajda鈥檚 third shut-out of the playoffs in a 2-0 win.
Victoria had its chances on Wednesday, rallying from being down 2-1 when Galajda left the game with 56.4 seconds to go in the opening frame. The Grizzlies grabbed a 3-2 lead and were tied 3-3 to start the third period.
鈥淭hey got that lucky 3-on-1 weird bounce in front of our bench,鈥� Van Lierop said of the tying goal. 鈥淸Jordan] Kawaguchi, whenever he has an opportunity, is going to put it in the net or put it on someone else鈥檚 stick. We can鈥檛 give him those opportunities.
鈥淕oing into the final period, we would have rather been up by one, and then it was an unlucky bounce on the penalty kill for us,鈥� he added of the Chiefs鈥� winning goal on a power play 50 seconds into the third. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 find the back of the net for the rest of the period.鈥�
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