The Victoria Grizzlies will be looking to bounce back after dropping the first two games in the second round of B.C. Hockey League playoff action to the Powell River Kings this weekend.
The Grizzlies, who recently completed a rare reverse sweep of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs to advance to the second round, lost 5-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday to the Kings at The Q Centre.
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The Kings came out strong in game 1 on Friday, with Carmine Buono finding the back of the net at 8:46 in the first. Ben Berard and Ben Thomas added two to the lead in the second period.
Kings’ Carter Turnbull scored in the final stanza, bringing the score to 4-0.
Grizzlies’ Ethan Nother got the home team on the board with a goal from Jamie Rome and Alex Newhook, but the Kings’ Josh Coblenz sealed the win with an empty-netter.
Saturday night’s game started off in similar fashion. The Kings opened the scoring with a shot from Hunter Findlaster, assisted by Berard and Buono at 19:35 in the first stanza, and went on to score another two unanswered goals in the second period from Kyle Kawamura and Coblenz.
It wasn’t until the end of the second that Grizzlies’ Carter Berger found the back of the net with a shot from T.J. Friedmann and Cameron Thompson.
In the final stanza, Thompson scored shorthanded from Newhook.
Grizzlies netminder Zachary Rose stopped 29 ot 32 shots, while the Kings’ netminder Matteo Paler-Chow stopped 39 of 41.
Game three and four get underway on Monday and Tuesday in Powell River. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.