The Victoria Grizzlies emerged from their first game of the new year with a 5-3 victory over the Cowichan Valley Capitals at The Q Centre in Colwood Tuesday evening.
The Grizzlies jumped to an early lead with three goals in the first period.
Ethan Nother started the scoring with an assist from Jamie Rome and was followed less than two minutes later with Ryan Nolan finding the net with the help of Alex Newhook and Dayne Finnson.
Rome notched the third goal at 12:14 in the first, again with the help of Newhook and Finnson, proving that the pairing was a lethal combination on attack.
The Capitals answered with a goal from Tate Coughlin at the end of the period.
Newhook, this time off Ethan Nother and Cole Noble, added one in the second.
In the third period the Capitals came out strong with an early goal by Ty Pochipinski at the two minute mark and again 13 minutes later with a goal by Nicholas Wilson.
The Grizzlies’ Matthew Doran added another in the third to make it 5-3.
The win puts the Grizzlies in third place in the Island Division of the B.C. Hockey League with 43 points, only two points behind division leaders – Powell River and Nanaimo – who each have 45 points. The Capitals remain in last place in the division with 17 points.
Newhook is leading the Grizzlies with 44 points this season, followed by Rome and Nother with 36 and 30 points respectively.
The Grizzlies were scheduled to hit the road with an away game in the Cowichan Valley on Wednesday (after the Gazette’s press deadline) and return to Colwood to face off against West Kelowna at The Q Centre this Friday at 7 p.m.