Grizzlies’ unbeaten streak at 10 — and counting

Mario Annicchiarico / Times Colonist
Photograph By DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
JANUARY 12, 2018 10:54 PM

The undefeated streak has hit double digits as the Victoria Grizzlies stretched their fine little run to 10 games by way of a 3-0 win over the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday night at The Q Centre.

With the victory, the Grizzlies moved into sole possession of first place in the B.C. Hockey League’s Island Division, with a record of 23-14-3-2 for 51 points. The Nanaimo Clippers (49 points) were off Friday and the Powell River Kings (48 points) tied the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 3-3 in double overtime.

The Kings do have two games in hand on both their rivals, however, and visit Nanaimo tonight before venturing into Victoria at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

“They’re doing the right things out there and they’re working hard,” Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon said.

“We feel fortunate to have had some success here, but it’s just a part of the season.

“We’ve worked hard to get where we are, and now we have to keep climbing the ladder. Hopefully, we can continue to make the spread bigger within the division and get that home-ice advantage, which is important to us,” Didmon said.

Ethan Nother opened the scoring just 4:47 into the first period. He gobbled up an errant puck and skated in alone to beat John Hawthorne in the Alberni net with a nifty deke to the backhand.

Victoria immediately had opportunities to pile it on, but a 5-on-3 man-advantage for 52 seconds wound up goal-less.

It wasn’t for lack of effort, as there were a pair of goalposts rung on the power plays. In fact, the Grizzlies clanged iron on four instances in the opening 20 minutes.

Matthew Doran made it 2-0 on a power play at 7:46 of the second period as he deftly deflected Carter Berger’s point shot.

The Grizzlies’ power play came into the evening leading the league at a 22.6 per cent rate, but just went 2-for-9 — including two, two-man advantages. The second came during a five-minute major late in the game in which Cam Thompson scored with 3:31 to go.

“If you could point a finger at anything tonight, we were too passive on our power play. We’ve had a lot of success there, but you can’t stop working,” Didmon said.

“You have to put teams away sooner.”

Nother was solid again on the top unit with Alex Newhook and Jamie Rome.

“We’ve been hot and it’s good to keep it going,” Nother said of the undefeated run that includes a tie with nine wins. “We went through some struggles throughout the year, and it’s good to be winning games consecutively like this now.”

Zack Rose made 25 saves to earn the win and the shutout, his second of the season, on a relatively tame night. He robbed Keaton Mastrodonato and Michael Sacco in tight for his best saves. Luc Salem also hit the post late.

Meanwhile, Hawthorne faced 27 shots in the Bulldogs’ net.

It was a physical affair as the Bulldogs took some runs at Newhook, the 16-year-old sensation, who was injured briefly in the second period after being hit late in the corner.

He also dodged a check in which the opponent ended up on his own bench.

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