The Victoria Grizzlies are looking for a win on home ice against the Coquitlam Express Friday.
The Grizzlies return home after going 0-3 on their recent road trip. The team lost 5-4 to the Trail Smoke Eaters on Oct. 13 and 4-2 to the Penticton Vees on Oct. 14 before falling 5-2 to the Surrey Eagles on Oct. 15.
It’s not the direction the team was hoping to go, snapping three game winning streak and finishing with a record of 5-5-0 in their past 10 games.
Victoria opened the scoring last Friday against Trail thanks to Drayson Pears’ first of the season but Trail answered with two in less than five minutes to take a 2-1 lead.
Trail scored two more in the second period to jump out to the 4-1 lead but the Grizzlies added three goals of their own to tie the game at four. But Trail scored early in the final frame and held onto their lead to come out with the 5-4 win.
The next game against the Penticton Vees saw the Grizzlies fall behind early with the Vees scoring two goals in less than five minutes to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
Justin Michaelian got one back for the Grizzlies with his eighth of the season to pull the Grizzlies within one but Penticton added the only goal of the second period and another early in the third and made it 4-1. Lucas Clark added the lone goal for the Grizzlies in the third.
Things wouldn’t get much better against the Surrey Eagles the following night.
Victoria opened the scoring early in the first thanks to Jamie Rome, with his seventh of the year, but Surrey answered near the end of the frame to level the game at one.
The Grizzlies struck first in the second to take a 2-1 goal lead but it was short lived. Surrey tacked on two more goals in the middle period to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
The Grizzlies were shutout in the final frame and Surrey added two more goals to secure the 5-2 win.
Victora returned home on Oct. 18 but lost 3-2 in overtime against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs to lose their fourth straight game.