Goaltending can be a great equalizer, especially in the playoffs, and for much of the Victoria Grizzlies’ post-season opener on Tuesday night, it looked like Alberni Valley’s Connor LaCouvee could play a big factor in the opening round of the B.C. Hockey League extended season.
Solid, but not spectacular, the Bulldogs’ netminder cracked twice in the second period as the host Grizzlies — who were 29 points better than their opponents during the year — pulled out a 3-0 opening win.
The Island Division semifinal, played before an announced crowd of 896 at The Q Centre, resumes tonight a 7:15 p.m. in Victoria before the scene switches to Port Alberni for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday.
“I thought it was a good effort on our part, we put in a good 60 minutes and we got stronger as we went along,” said Grizzlies head coach Craig Didmon. “That was our plan, was getting the goaltender working hard.
“We want him getting up and down more than he would be in a regular game so we can wear him down over this series. It’s good we got the first one, but it’s just one. We need the same effort [today].”
The Grizzlies were full marks on Tuesday.
LaCouvee defeated the Grizzlies 6-2 just two weekends ago in Alberni, but was also bombarded with three quick goals in a 9-5 loss at home back on Feb. 1 in which he was replaced by Nathan Warren, who ended up taking the loss.
LaCouvee didn’t crack in Game 1 until 5:20 of the second when Storm Wahlrab jumped on a loose puck that snuck by the netminder. Jesse Schwartz made it 2-0 on a power play almost 12 minutes later as Victoria out-shot the visitors by a 27-11 margin after 40 minutes.
The Grizzlies had the better opportunities in the opening period and Gerry Fitzgerald appeared to score at 10:08 when he wired a shot over the goaltender’s glove hand. The puck came out quickly, the red light remained off, but the referee signalled a goal. After checking with the goal judge and some conversation, it was waved off, much to the chagrin of the crowd.
Meanwhile, Grizzlies netminder Nic Renyard — who faced just 18 shots — held the fort.
“We need more urgency and need to go into Game 2 with a sense of calm for a full 60 minutes,” said Alberni coach Kevin Willison. “We have to get back to executing a lot quicker and doing the simple things.”
The Grizzlies never relented with 35 shots and Kevin Massy added a short-handed empty-netter with 6.8 seconds to go.
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