COWICHAN VALLEY 3 VICTORIA 1
The Cowichan Valley Capitals came into Fridays game at Bear Mountain Arena 19 points in arrears of the Island Division-leading Victoria Grizzlies in B.C. Hockey League play.
But a pair of goals by Mikael Jung – both off super feeds by Travis Stephens – gave the visitors their first road victory of the season in a 3-1 upset of the hosts in front of 1,455 fans.
The Grizzlies fall to 12-6-0-1, while the Capitals improve to 5-10-0-1. Victoria was 7-3 in its last 10 while the Caps were 3-7.
So much for statistics.
"It's really disappointing because I don't think we played to our level and the capacity that we've proven we can play at," said frustrated Grizzlies head coach Bill Bestwick. "I'm not sure if we're patting ourselves on the back a little too much or if we're just not as prepared at home.
"Or maybe teams are saying this is a game where we can measure ourselves against, one-third of the way through the season. Maybe that's what's going to start happening to us," Bestwick added.
Whatever it was, the Grizzlies need to snap out of it, quick.
Jung opened the scoring at 14: 21 of the first period on a fine feed from Stephens, creating a tap-in for the 1-0 lead. Grizzlies netminder Brady Rouleau, a former Capital, had no chance on the play.
He also had little opportunity when Jung made it 2-0 just 50 seconds into the second on a setup from Stephens from behind the net.
Meanwhile, Capitals goalie Derek Dun – looking a little sloppy in the net with rebounds – was effective enough, making not one but two huge saves off David Mazurek in the final minute of both the first and second periods as the Grizzlies outshot the visitors 17-6 after 20 minutes and 24-17 after 40.
For good measure, Dun also made a toe save off Garrett Skrbich.
Victoria's Dante Hahn finally broke the goose egg on a two-man advantage at 11: 19 of the second, but Ryan Coghlan got it right back two minutes later for a 3-1 Capitals' lead.
IN THE DEN: Rouleau has committed to attend Quinnipiac University and will join the Bobcats for the 2013 season. … Victoria defenceman Mitch Meek is expected out of the lineup for some time, suffering from a concussion after hitting the back of his head on the ice in Merritt last Sunday.
