VICTORIA 6 - COWICHAN VALLEY 3
Victoria Grizzlies star rookie Matthew Wood joined some heady company on Friday night at The Q Centre.
The recently turned 17-year-old from Nanaimo hit the 40-goal mark on the sa国际传媒 Hockey League season, scoring a goal to help the Grizzlies knock off the visiting Cowichan Valley Capitals by a 6-3 score.
The last time a Grizzlies player surpassed the 40-goal mark was 15 years ago when a Stanley Cup champion and Olympic gold medallist both accomplished the feat. Tyler Bozak, who won the cup with the St. Louis Blues, finished the 2006-07 season with a team-high 45 goals and teammate and current Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn, who won gold at the 2014 Winter Olymics, finished with 42 goals.
While Wood was reaching the milestone, Kalen Szeto was dismantling the struggling Capitals. The 19-year-old, with an NCAA scholarship to Yale in his pocket, scored four times to help the Grizzlies (25-19-0) stay perfect against the Caps this season at 6-0. And they did it in front of Olympic royalty. Saanichton’s Micah Zandee-Hart was on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck, fresh off winning a gold medal in Beijing with sa国际传媒’s women’s national hockey team.
Wood, who has committed to the University of sa国际传媒icut of the NCAA and is projected to go in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft, also added two assists to push his league- leading point total to 73.
Szeto, from Vancouver, started the scoring Friday in front of 1,258 fans and finished it with an empty-netter to raise his season goal total to 19.
Luc Pelletier had the other Grizzlies goal. The Caps (12-27-4-1) trailed 5-0 but made a game of it in third with goals by Shane Lavelle, Luke Haymes and David Jacobs.
Rookie Kyle Kelsey picked up his second straight win in goal for the Grizzlies, making 30 saves. McCoy Bidewell started the game for Cowichan but was replaced by Matthew Hutchinson after two periods with the Grizzlies finishing with 44 shots.
The Grizzlies now hit the road for four straight games beginning tonight in Coquitlam against the Express.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Grizzlies were without injured forwards Connor Eddy and Andrew Amousse, as well as Noah Fladager who served the first of a three-game suspension for a “staged” fight at the end of last Sunday’s game against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
