Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies (26-12-7) are set to do battle with the Nanaimo Clippers (23-20-4) for a seventh and final time this evening at 6:00 PM at the Q Centre.
Victoria is riding high after a historic win last night that saw them not only pick up their 26th win of the season, but also have starting goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton etch himself into their franchise record books. His 54 save shutout last night was not his record eighth career shutout, but also his franchise leading 49th win of his career. His name now stands at the top of both of those categories.
The Grizzlies hope that there will be no sluggishness after such a big night last night, as they have a tough task in front of them tonight. The Nanaimo Clippers are coming off a 4-3 come from behind win last night over the Surrey Eagles and are now 13-6-1 in the second half of the season. They are also looking for revenge as the Grizzlies defeated them here at the Q Centre in overtime 4-3 on February 22nd. That overtime win has them leading the season series 4-2.
Tom Molson had a great night last night, netting his 13th and 14th goals of the year, with his 13th being a spectacular between the legs finish. He now has five goals and six points in his last three games. Reegan Hiscock picked up two assists giving him 12 points in his last seven games. Those are two Grizzlies big guns to look out for this evening.
Tonight is certainly an important game for Victoria, who only seems to be playing in high stakes games at the moment. They currently sit one game up on Surrey with a game in hand (59 points to 58). Cowichan is right there with 55 points while Coquitlam won last night and finds themselves right in the race as well with 56 points. Victoria has a game in hand on both Cowichan and Coquitlam. Nanaimo is fighting with Alberni Valley for sixth place as the Clippers splendid second half and Alberni Valley’s dismal last 18 (5-11-2) have put the Clippers one point behind the Bulldogs.
If the last few meetings between these two teams, and how entertaining last night was, is any indication then tonight should be quite the heavily contested matchup. Puck drop goes at 6:00 PM from the Q Centre in Colwood.
NEED TO KNOW STATS
- Victoria is 3-1-1 in their last five and 6-3-1 in their last ten
- Cowichan Valley is 2-2-1 in their last five and 6-2-2 in their last ten
- Reegan Hiscock has 12 points in his last seven games (5-7-12)
- Hiscock also leads the Grizzlies in scoring during the second half with 13 goals and 26 points in 18 games
- Chase Pirtle has 12 points in his last eight games (5-7-12)
- Tobias Pitka has 10 points in his last eight games (3-7-10)
- Tom Molson has five goals and six points in his last three games (3-3-6) and 11 points in his last 10 (7-4-11)
- Landon Mackie has three goals and five assist against the Clippers for eight points in six games this year
- Seamus Latta has four points in four games against Nanaimo this year (3-1-4)
- Chase Pirtle has six points in six games against the Clippers this year (2-4-6)
- Easton Kovacs has a sneaky four points in his last five games (1-3-4)
2024-25 Team Ranks
| Victoria | Nanaimo | |
| Goals For Per Game | 3.89 (6th) | 3.66 (9th) |
| Goals Against Per Game | 3.36 (9th) | 3.55 (12th) |
| Power Play Percentage | 25.6% (4th) | 29.4% (2nd) |
| Penalty Kill Percentage | 85.7% (3rd) | 81.0% (5th) |
| Penalty Minutes Per Game | 10.98 (7th) | 10.15 (4th) |
