SERIES- The Grizzlies earned the split they wanted in Powell River with Wednesday's 4-3 double overtime win. Rookie Evan Richardson's first career BCHL playoff goal was the difference at 4:47 of the second overtime period.
Tonight is the first of two games at Bear Mountain Arena in Colwood. The Kings were 3-0 in the very same building during the regular season, winning 4-2, 4-1 and 4-2. However, the Grizzlies are 3-0 at home in the playoffs, outscoring Nanaimo 17-6.
TEAM PULSE
VICTORIA- The Grizzlies are riding high after Wednesday's win and are a confident bunch heading into game three. Game two could be looked upon as not only a win in the series but a mental one as well. Prior to game two, Victoria, including game one, had lost seven straight games to the Kings this season.
Game two saw a Victoria team that was playing as if their season was on the line, as they knew fully well going down 2-0 against the Kings could have been all she wrote. The top line came to life on Wednesday, as David Morley, Dustin Johnson and Joel Lowry each scored once and combined for five points. However it wasn't their big guns getting the most important goal.
Evan Richardson, who was making his series debut since an injury early in round one, converted a rebound in front of Mike Garteig just under five minutes into the second overtime period. It was their third line, or two thirds of it that was on the ice for the game winner. The key for Victoria going forward is their depth up front, and if they get efforts like Wednesday's, they will be very dangerous.
Another key factor in the game was the Grizzlies' success in the faceoff circle, especially in the offensive zone. David Morley, Mitch Labreche and Wesley Myron did a terrific job of winning key draws. That is something they will look to continue with the last change at home.
POWELL RIVER- The Kings will be looking to get back on track. To do that, they will have toget back to playing like they have all year. Powell River was guilty of failing to protect the front of the goal in their zone in game two and didn't do a good enough job away from the puck; that was and is a big key to their success this season.
The team will have to be much better in the circle as they allowed Victoria to dictate the faceoffs, especially late in the game and in their own zone. What the coaching staff will preach is battling on every face off from the puck drop to the final buzzer. Don't allow the Grizzlies to win clean draws; make every draw count.
Finally, the power-play will need to get a jump start going forward in this series. Coming into tonight the Kings are just 2/13 on the man advantage with one goal coming on a 5 on 3 advantage. The Kings have failed to generate good scoring opportunities on the power-play and will need to do a more effective job of generating shots from the points and establishing a net presence.
WHO'S HOT- As mentioned earlier, the Grizzlies top line of Morley, Lowry andJohnson broke out in game two with their combined five point effort. Lowry has three points (1-2-3) in two games this series. Chad Niddery has four points (1-3-4) to lead the Kings up front. Niddery likes playing the Grizzlies as he lead his team in scoring in the six games this season with 13 points.
PUCK DROP: Pre-game show goes at 6:55pm puck drop 7:10pm on 95-7 SUN FM. My intermission guests will include Brendan Hawryluk and the Victoria Cougars Head Coach, Mark Van Helvoirt.
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