Sensing the urgency their general manager and head coach stressed after the night before, the Victoria Grizzlies came up with a much-needed victory at The Q Centre on Friday evening, defeating the Cowichan Valley Capitals 6-2.
Speedy rookie Keyvan Mokhtari and veteran Brayden Gelsinger scored a pair of goals each to pace the hosts to the sa国际传媒 Hockey League win, snapping a three-game losing skid. Captain P.J. Conlon also provided a short-handed marker.
鈥淭he guys responded,鈥� said Grizzlies boss Craig Didmon, who ripped into his team after Thursday鈥檚 3-2 loss to Trail. 鈥淭hey take a lot of pride in their home record. We out-worked them all night, which was asked.
鈥淣ow we get a bit of a break with the rest of the weekend off and that鈥檚 a good note to leave on. It鈥檚 a step forward, for sure, and I expect more nights like this from this group.鈥�
Mokhtari鈥檚 second goal came via the power play, which has now scored in three straight games as it starts to show some life.
Having now played a league-high 28 games, just one shy of the midway mark of the 2015-16 season, the Grizzlies critically needed the two points and are now 10-15-0-3. That puts them three points up on the Island Division basement-dwelling Alberni Valley Bulldogs and just two behind third-place Powell River.
The problem is, Victoria has played five more games than both those clubs. The Capitals have four games in hand on the Grizzlies and Nanaimo has two, so winning is a must, especially on this current five-game homestand.
Including Thursday鈥檚 loss, Victoria is at home for nine of 12 games before the Christmas break, which occurs following the Dec. 19 outing against the Clippers, so there is very little wiggle room.
Matt Hudie actually opened the scoring for Cowichan, working a 2-on-1 to perfection with Luke Santerno at 5:47 of the first period. Mokhtari evened it at 9:31 then gave the hosts a 2-1 lead on the power play at 12:14.
Conlon, at 9:51 of the second, and Dante Hahn made it 4-1 less than two minutes later as he patiently waited and roofed the puck upstairs on a backhand over a sprawled Lane Michasiw. The goaltender was making his fourth start and just his second after battling through mononucleosis the last seven weeks.
The rout was on as Gelsinger scored twice in 1:59 late in the second for a 6-1 advantage.
Ryan Hogg got one back for Cowichan, snapping six straight goals by Victoria, which received 15 saves from goalie Matthew Galajda.
It was the last time the Duncan-based team visits Victoria this season and the Grizzlies are now off until Friday, when they host the Clippers.
