Tough one for the Dogs tonight, and a well earned one for the Grizzlies as they broke a 1-1 deadlock with less than five minutes left to skate away with a 2-1 win.
It was a tough one for the Dogs because they have lost two home games in a row, both with the opposition coming up with a game winning goal in the late stages of regulation.
The Grizzlies looked more than a little ready for this one to get some payback for the Dogs 4-0 win at the Bear Mountain Arena on Friday night, as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead before the game was even 30 seconds old on a great feed from Jordan Heywood to Dustin Mowrey in the slot.
The Grizzlies continued to get some good chances early while the Dogs battled to get into the game. After back to back penalty kills, including a short 5 on 3, the Dogs seemed to get some momentum and get going. The Dogs would tie the game just over four minutes into the second on a beautiful stretch pass to send Josh Mitchell in alone, where he made an equally nice play faking before sliding the puck to a driving Mitch MacMillan where he made no mistake ripping it into the open side for a 1-1 tie.
The Dogs had plenty of chances the rest of the way, out shooting the Grizzlies 17-5 in the third period alone. Ryan Holfeld was very good, and the Dogs just couldn't buy a break around the Victoria net.
The 1-1 tie lasted all the way until the 15:16 mark of the third where Alex Allan threw a cross crease pass to Madison Dias that he managed to squeak past Scott Lewan as he looked at first for a split second to have made the save from my viewpoint.
The Dogs had several last tries with the goalie out where they got the puck to the crease but couldn't convert.
While not nearly as busy as Holfeld, I again really liked the game of Scott Lewan. Love the way he battles in there. Not only did he come up with some big saves through the game, he can't be faulted on either goal.
Ronnie Paulson raised this point with me - The Dogs had 82 - yes 82! points sitting in the stands in this one with Tye Lewis, Warren Muir, and David Dziurzynski all out.
I'm sure the Grizz don't feel too bad about that though as at the same time they had some important players out too in Baker, Pawlowski, and Myron.
A chance missed by the Dogs to move into first place in Coastal Conference. Now it's three straight on the road up North starting Friday in PG.
And now I gotta hit the hay. Morning show starts at 6.
1 comment:
Warren Muir, David Dziurzynski & Tye Lewis - good call Ron P., they are all forces in some way for the team, it is a huge loss to have these select guys sitting out injured. They will definately fire up the team even more when they return - hopefully that will be soon.
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