All too often this B.C. Hockey League season, the “Q” portion of The Q Centre has stood for quaint — a comfortably charming and maybe too sweet a place for visiting teams to play.
At 3-3-0-2 in their own barn, the Victoria Grizzlies hadn’t exactly been a dominating force at the Colwood facility, still searching for an identity to what has been a very ordinary start to the campaign.
That might have changed on Friday night in a 3-2 victory over the Nanaimo Clippers to sweep a home-and-home series against the Island Division leaders.
It was the first home win in three tries against the Clippers, with defenceman Jake Emilio pounding home a power-play marker with 5:55 to go in the third period for the game-winner. Brendan Taylor had tied it at 2-2 for Nanaimo at 12:15 of the frame.
“It was a nice home win and it’s always nice to beat a good team like Nanaimo,” said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Brad Knight. “You have to earn it. It’s not only to win at home, but to work hard to beat a good team — that’s a hard thing to do and it’s a positive for us.
“The Grizzlies have been looking for something to sink their teeth into and this is good for us,” added Knight.
Outshot by a large margin in the opening 20 minutes, it looked like the Grizzlies were going to escape scoreless until Cole Maier banged a loose puck by Grizzlies goaltender Mike Stiliadis with just .3 seconds left on the clock. It was the 15th shot of the frame, compared to the seven Jakob Severson faced at the other end.
Dane Gibson wasted little time getting it back, however, on a slap shot just 43 seconds into the second period, and Brett Gruber tallied with 9.9 seconds left in the middle stanza for a 2-1 Victoria lead. It came just over a minute after Jake Jackson failed on a penalty shot as he attempted the patented Peter Forsberg move, but the puck feebly slipped off his stick.
Victoria now improves to 10-8-0-4 with its second straight win. Nanaimo slips to 16-8-0-0.
The Grizzlies are in Powell River today at 5 p.m. and return home to face Trail on Sunday at 2 p.m.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
