Above Photo: Tyson Moss goes back after a puck behind the net with Alberni Valley forward; Cole Bishop watching him (Photo: Kyle Robinson Photography)
Victoria, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies shutout the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 3-0 on Friday night from the Q Centre for a classic Victoria defensive masterclass.
Call it a hockey “picasso” as the Grizzlies played the exact way they were built on Friday night to snap the Alberni Valley Bulldogs five game winning streak. It was a defensive masterpiece for a Grizzlies team that seemed determined to be on the right side of the score line after a tough Saturday night in Prince George last weekend.
A quiet first period saw the Grizzlies capitalize late on the powerplay. Bulldogs forward blew over Victoria’s netminder Oliver Auyeung-Ashton resulting in a deserving goaltender interference infraction which Victoria made no mistake on. Reegan Hiscock fired a puck on net and Tobias Pitka forced home the rebound for his fifth tally of the season. Tom Molson got the secondary assist with 48 seconds remaining in the opening period.
Alberni seemed determined during the second and outshot the Grizzlies 11-10 in the second however some good defense and penalty killing allowed the Grizzlies to escape to the end of the period unscathed. Oliver Auyeung-Ashton made a timely save halfway through the period on Gianni DeVita who moved in on a breakaway but was turned aside by the blocker of the Grizzlies netminder.
With 34 seconds remaining in the second, Alex Hebblethwaite jumped on a loose puck up the right wing before going around behind the net and centering for Tom Molson who found the back of the net to make it 2-0 heading into the third. Tobias Pitka received the second assist.
Victoria was on lock down mode in the final frame and killed three key Alberni power plays, before they pulled the goalie to get a 6-5 to attempt to pull within one. Landon Mackie had other ideas however, and made a nice play in his own zone by banking the puck to himself to race after, before firing the puck into the empty net for his 5th of the season.
With the shutout, Oliver Auyeung-Ashton has tied Matthew Galajda for most career shutouts as a Grizzly with seven.
Victoria is back in action tomorrow night at 6:00 PM from the Q Centre against the Nanaimo Clippers, who beat the Langley Rivermen 2-1 on Friday evening.
