But the Trail Smoke Eaters had other plans. The Smoke Eaters, needing a win of their own after losing Friday in Powell River and Saturday in Alberni Valley, scored late in third period to edge the Grizzlies 2-1 in front of 861 fans at The Q Centre.
After Grizzlies defenceman Drayson Pears opened the scoring midway through the first period, Smoke Eaters leading scorer Luke Santerno tied the game on a power play with just 31 seconds left in the opening frame. It was Santerno鈥檚 20th goal of the season.
Neither team could solve Grizzlies netminder Matthew Galajda or Smoke Eaters goalie Linden Marshall, until Trail鈥檚 Spencer McLean beat Galajda with 5:12 left in the third.
Victoria outshot Trail 33-23.
The loss dropped the Grizzlies鈥� record to 16-5-2-3 and they are tied atop the sa国际传媒 Hockey League鈥檚 Island Division standings with Powell River (18-9-1-0) at 37 points. The Grizzlies do have two games in hand on the Kings.
Trail improved to 13-12-1-0.
The Grizzlies now prepare for a home-and-home set with the Nanaimo Clippers beginning Friday night at Frank Crane Arena and concluding Saturday night at The Q Centre.
LOOSE PUCKS: The weekly Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings were released Monday and although the Grizzlies narrowly missed cracking the top 20, three BCHL teams made the national rankings. The BCHL-leading Penticton Vees jumped to fourth from sixth a week ago, while the Wenatchee Wild dropped from fourth last week to 15th place this week. The Chilliwack Chiefs, who were unranked a week ago, move into the top 20 at No. 16. The No. 1-ranked team in the country remains Coll猫ge Fran莽ais de Longueuil of the Quebec junior hockey league.
