The Victoria Grizzlies stared adversity in the face on Wednesday night, and lived to talk about it.
They鈥檒l have to do it again Friday night if they want to prolong their sa国际传媒 Hockey League season.
This time, the Grizzlies are in the friendly confines of The Q Centre, although in their first two playoff games in the Colwood arena, things didn鈥檛 quite go as planned and now they鈥檒l face elimination once more in Game 5 against the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
鈥淣o, up until Wednesday, luck didn鈥檛 go our way, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon, whose club won Game 4 in a packed Weyerhaeuser Arena to stave off elimination but still trail the best-of-seven, first-round series 3-1 after losing the first three games in overtime.
鈥淏ut you just keep working hard, which the guys have done, and eventually things are going to turn around for you.鈥�
The Grizzlies, Island Division regular season champions, have outshot the fourth-place Bulldogs in all four games in the series, despite the Bulldogs having a big advantage in power plays 鈥� Alberni has had the man advantage 23 times, including three 5-on-3 opportunities, while the Victoria has had 14 power plays.
鈥淲e鈥檙e obviously disappointed we don鈥檛 have more wins but hockey is a tough sport where anything can happen so you just have to roll with it and focus on the task at hand,鈥� said Didmon, who himself was ejected in the third period of Game 3.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 explain the penalty ratio so it is what it is. We play hard and we鈥檒l continue to play hard.鈥�
After being stymied by the hard-working Bulldogs in the first three games, the Grizzlies鈥� top guns on offence finally got on track in Game 4 with both BCHL rookie of the year Alex Newhook and 20-year-old high-scoring winger Ethan Nother notching their first goals of the series. Nother finished the game with a goal and two assists.
鈥淚 think Ethan is now comfortable with the next level of intensity that playoff hockey in this league brings and with Alex missing the last month of the season, he is finally getting his timing back so hopefully they continue to produce from here on out,鈥� said Didmon.
The victory Wednesday also came without the services of veteran centre T.J. Friedmann. The St. Louis product, who is committed to Quinnipiac of the NCAA for the fall of 2019, is second on the team in playoff scoring with two goals and three assists but was injured late in Game 3 and didn鈥檛 play in Game 4.
鈥淭.J. is doubtful for Friday as well,鈥� Didmon said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e hopeful it鈥檚 not a long-term thing.鈥�
Kurtis Chapman is expected to get his third straight start in goal for the Grizzlies on Friday. The 19-year-old missed the first two games after returning home to Airdrie, Alta., after the death of a close friend. The veteran has looked at home in the playoff heat 鈥� 1-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .944 save percentage 鈥� which is nothing new for him Chapman played 12 playoff games for the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League last season.
鈥淜urtis has gotten better with each game and he provides that veteran presence back there,鈥� Didmon said.
If a Game 6 is required, it goes Saturday night in Port Alberni. A seventh-and-deciding game would be played Sunday afternoon at The Q Centre.
The series winner advances to play the winner of the Nanaimo-Powell River series, which Powell River leads 3-2 after a 3-2 victory in Game 5 on Thursday at Frank Crane Arena.
LOOSE PUCKS: Alberni鈥檚 Michael Sacco leads all goal scorers in the series with five. . . . Justin Michaelian leads the Grizzlies in playoff scoring with two goals and four assists for six points.
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