The Victoria Grizzlies are starting to wish the sa国际传媒 Hockey League had never brought in the shootout this season.
The Grizzlies lost their fourth shootout of the season, to go with just one win, on Thursday night, this one by a 5-4 score after both Alex Campbell and Alex Newhook failed to score on their breakaways, while Paul Selleck and Niko Esposito-Selivanov both scored on Grizzlies netminder Zack Rose to seal the win for the Caps.
Cowichan (16-31-4-1) moved to within two points of Alberni Valley in the race for fourth place in the Island Division, while the Grizzlies (31-16-0-4) used the single point to move three points up on Powell River in the race for the division title.
The Grizzlies had a 4-3 lead into the final two minutes of regulation when Grizzlies defenceman Kenny Johnson was the victim of some questionable calls by the officials. With 1:28 left in the third, Johnson and Capitals forward Olivier Gauthier were involved in an altercation at the side of the net.
The Grizzlies鈥� blue-liner was handed nine minutes in penalties, including two minutes for instigating and two minutes for being the aggressor, while Gauthier was given two minutes for roughing. The result was a seven-minute power play that the Caps used to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining thanks to a Cruze Cote snap shot from in close.
The power play continued for the duration of overtime, before Newhook drew a tripping call to even things up.
Newhook finished with a goal and two assists to widen his lead in the BCHL scoring race to 12 points over Ryan Brushett of Powell River.
Carter Berger had two goals for the Grizzlies, while 2018 New York Rangers draft pick Riley Hughes added a single.
Rose made 42 saves in the Grizzlies鈥� net, while Pierce Diamond made 33 stops in the Capitals鈥� net.
The Grizzlies host the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday night and Merritt on Sunday afternoon.
