Victoria is in search of its seventh straight win as the Grizzlies face the Kings at Hap Parker Arena. A road victory there would pretty much clinch first place overall in the Island Division unless there is a total collapse along the way.
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs were in Powell River on Tuesday night and the Kings picked up a 9-0 win to move to within four points of the Grizzlies.
Victoria does have three games in hand on the Kings with eight games remaining in the 2016-17 sa国际传媒 Hockey League regular season but just three are at home, including visits from Merritt and Salmon Arm on Saturday and Sunday.
The Grizzlies should be building off that key Saturday victory over the Vees in which Nathan Looysen scored a highlight-reel goal to end it.
鈥淭hey came ready to go and I thought our habits were excellent. We respected Penticton for who they were and we went and played our game,鈥� said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon. 鈥淭he biggest thing for us was, no matter what was happening in that game, we kept an even keel. We didn鈥檛 get too emotional and we kept on going.
鈥淚 like how we came from behind. That鈥檚 a very good hockey club and that was probably one of, if not, our best game of the season.鈥�
Which he hopes will translate into Powell River.
鈥淭o be honest, we were gearing towards that game [in Powell River] as much as the [Penticton] game,鈥� said Didmon. 鈥淲e feel good about what鈥檚 happened, but we wipe the slate clean and after a couple of good practices we will have a tough travel day, where we have to leave at 6 a.m. There鈥檚 great leadership in this room, though, and they come to play. The guys in the stalls want to win.鈥�
Looysen, who also had an assist in Saturday鈥檚 thriller, sees it the same way.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge two points for us. We were down by one and coming back against Penticton is never easy. I think it was really good that we stuck to our game plan and we have to do the same thing going [to Powell River],鈥� said Looysen, who had an excellent stretch last week after accepting a scholarship to Brock University.
鈥淚t goes to show how good of a team we are and when we stick together and have good team success, the individual success comes with the scholarships,鈥� he added.
It鈥檚 time to re-focus on the Kings, who swept the Grizzlies 4-2 and 5-3 just over two weeks ago at The Q Centre.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge game, one of the biggest of the year and a big two points,鈥� said Looysen. 鈥淔or us, we have to put this last win behind us and bear down and focus on playing Powell River. We can鈥檛 get behind early, we have to stick to the game plan and if we do, we鈥檒l be good.
鈥淲inning there is never easy, but we have to do our best on Wednesday.鈥�
The Grizzlies finally moved into the top-20 rankings of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, appearing at No. 19 on Monday and pushing the Vees down into the honourable mention position.
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