Duncan, BC ~ Junsu Kwak’s overtime winner at 5:13 of overtime gave the Cowichan Valley Capitals a game seven victory over the Victoria Grizzlies at the Cowichan Community Arena in Duncan.
Victoria started the game about as well as they could’ve possibly imagined, going up 1-0 after 2:20. Michael Dowdall (1) sifted one through Rhett Stoesser in the Cowichan goal from the top of the right circle to give the visitors an early lead.
Cowichan would go to the power play and strike to tie things at 8:08. Anthony Hall (3rd) made a nifty tip and the right post to just barely beat Mikus Vecvanags, who couldn’t get over quite in time.
The Caps got their lead before the period was up off a net front scramble that Avery Johnson (1st) was able to get to go. 2-1 Cowichan after the first.
They added to their lead early in the second period off a brutal bounce on the Grizzlies. After a rim behind the Grizzlies’ net, Mikus Vecvanags came out to play the puck, and it hit a bad spot, popped in front of the net, and Anthony Hall (4th) had a wide-open net to bury his second of the game.
Victoria got their first power play with 14 minutes gone and wouldn’t miss. Matthew Jenken (1st) found the top left corner through traffic to bring the Grizzlies within a shot. That shot was a centre ice dump in from Denny Monahan (1st), which bounced about five feet in front of the Cowichan Valley goal and jumped over the right shoulder of Rhett Stoesser to incredibly tie the game at three heading to the second intermission.
Rhett Stoesser made a highlight reel save off of Maddux Martin with just over a minute left in regulation, meaning that the third period yielded no scoring, and it needed overtime in game seven.
After a one-timer from Carson Lesiuk trickled past the near post, Victoria began to control play. Against the run of play, Junsu Kwak carried the puck to Victoria ice and dumped it in on Mikus Vecvanags and got his own rebound, depositing the puck into the top corner of the goal to send the Cowichan Community Arena into a frenzy. The Caps ended the series right there at the 5:13 overtime mark, making for an incredible Coastal West Division Semi-Final.
The Victoria Grizzlies’ season comes to a close after one of the most memorable series in recent memory, in a bittersweet way, however, for Victoria. The Grizzlies would like to wish the Capitals the best of luck moving forward.
