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It has been an emotional start to the sa国际传媒 Hockey League鈥檚 Island Division final, with highs and lows experienced through the first four games, leaving players and coaches physically and mentally drained.
To date, the Victoria Grizzlies have responded in a pair of must-win scenarios, claiming wins in Games 2 and 4 in huge swing matchups in which they could have stumbled, already down 1-0 and 2-1 in the best-of-seven affair.
Instead, they find themselves tied 2-2 in the series against the Powell River Kings, who could have had the Grizzlies on the ropes, but came up short in the pivotal outcomes, including Tuesday鈥檚 5-4 overtime setback to Victoria.
It is now a best-of-three, with the Grizzlies earning back home-ice advantage. The series continues with Game 5 tonight at 7 at The Q Centre before returning to Powell River for Game 6 on Saturday at 5 p.m.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no quit in these guys and it鈥檚 been a heck of a series,鈥� said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon, whose team stared down the possibility of moving to an elimination game.
Nick Guiney changed that with his overtime goal just 33 seconds into the nervous extra session Tuesday after T.J. Friedmann had tied it midway through the third period.
鈥淲ith 10 minutes to go, we鈥檙e staring at the possibility of being down 3-1 in the series and Friedmann gets his second goal of the night,鈥� Didmon said. 鈥淭hen we head to overtime and we鈥檙e still one goal away from down 1-3 or one goal from being tied 2-2 in the series with home-ice advantage.
鈥淭hat was, so far, the biggest goal of the series,鈥� Didmon said of Guiney鈥檚 game-winner. 鈥淭his team has a lot of heart, battle and maturity. They are boys becoming men and I鈥檓 certainly proud of them right now.鈥�
Didmon desperately required some secondary scoring, outside of the Cole Pickup, Lucas Clark and Jamie Rome line that has produced most of the offence. He got it Tuesday as Guiney and Friedmann both came through with their first two goals of the playoffs in the must-win.
鈥淭hose guys have played great 鈥� plus-minus wise, they鈥檝e done their jobs shutting down opposing lines. But they are guys who know how to score goals and we had been waiting for it,鈥� said a relieved Didmon. 鈥淲e spent the day [prior to Tuesday鈥檚 game] looking at offensive chances and what we could have done better the night before [a 2-1 loss in Game 3].
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all strategizing. They鈥檙e trying to find ways in and talking about it and I give them huge credit,鈥� Didmon said.
It was Victoria鈥檚 17th overall overtime game this 2016-17 sa国际传媒 Hockey League season (winning six, losing five and tying four in the regular season) and second in the post-season, where they are now 1-1. The Grizzlies lost Game 1, 3-2 in double overtime to Powell River.
If there is one concern, it might be that the Grizzlies have let third-period leads evaporate in back-to-back games.
On Tuesday, Victoria led 3-1 early in the second period and 3-2 after 40 minutes. Powell River grabbed a 4-3 advantage before Friedmann checked in for the second time. On Monday, the Kings scored twice in the third for a 2-1 win.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not something we鈥檙e accustomed to [blowing the lead], for sure, but we got it back. You learn from your mistakes. We鈥檝e made the mistake two times in a row, so hopefully that doesn鈥檛 happen again,鈥� Didmon said.
A huge positive, however, is that the Grizzlies have allowed just one power-play goal against in this series on 14 Powell River chances. That goal came Tuesday.
鈥淭hey got the one, which bugged me because they were only in the zone for 10 seconds,鈥� Didmon said.
鈥淭heir power play is pretty good and if you would have told me they would only have one power-play goal four games into the series, I鈥檇 be pretty happy.鈥�
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