BCHL

Grizzlies sweep home and home with Rivermen

Written by BCHLNetwork Staff on

After delivering an absolute beating to the Langley Rivermen on Sunday, the Victoria Grizzlies were hungry for more. The two teams reunited in Victoria for the second leg of a home-and-home series on Tuesday where the Grizz were looking for their sixth win in the last seven games.

The home team got off to a hot start just thirty seconds into the game as Chase McInnis fired home his eighth of the season to give the Grizz an early 1-0 lead. Then at the 9:04 mark of the first period, Vincent Nardone provided some insurance for the Grizz by potting his tenth of the year. Kahlil Fontana and Colton Kitchen both had helpers on the goal.

Even though the Rivermen carried much of the play in the middle frame, it was the Grizzlies who scored the lone goal 7:30 into the period. Trevor Bishop put home his second goal of the season to catapult Victoria to a 3-0 lead. Bryce Anderson and Andrew Amousse drew the assists on the play.

Just when the game seemed to be out of reach, the Rivermen came out on fire in the final frame. With 5:30 to go in the game, Langley defenseman Jake Livingstone finally got his team on the board, burying his tenth of the season on the power play. Then with 2:21 to go in the third period, Joseph Musa scored his twelfth of the year to bring the Rivermen to within one goal. Langley forward Matthew Hubbarde picked up his second assist of the game on Musa’s goal. With Rivermen goaltender Jonathan Mor on the bench, Hubbarde tied the game 3-3 with 1:09 remaining in regulation.

At this point, all the momentum appeared to be in Langley’s favour until Sean Bunting took a tripping penalty with 59 seconds left to give Victoria a late power play. What happened next did not disappoint. On the ensuing faceoff, Alex DiPaolo won the puck back to Cody Monds, who dished it over to James Davenport, who then passed the puck to Henri Schreifels in front for an easy tap in. Schreifels’ beautiful finish was his 24th goal of the season as the Grizzlies knocked off the Rivermen in thrilling fashion.

Grizzlies goaltender Liam Soulière was an absolute rock, making 51 saves on 54 shots to help his team earn a hard-fought win. On Monday, Soulière received an honourable mention for player of the week after posting two wins and combined 61 saves on 64 shots with a 1.50 goals-against average and .953 save percentage.

Lineup Notes: Grizzlies captain Marty Westhaver returned to the lineup on Tuesday night after missing three straight games with an injury.

The Grizz now have a few days off before traveling to Cowichan Valley on Saturday to face the Island Division-leading Capitals. Puck drop is set for 6:00 pm at Cowichan Community Centre.