On the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, the Victoria Grizzlies were hoping to leave the Powell River Kings — in their patented green uniforms — in a desperate search for a four-leaf clover on their way home.
It turns out the visitors didn’t need any luck at all.
All they really required were six power-play chances. They only cashed in on one, but it ate up a lot of minutes in a 3-1 win over Victoria, which evens the opening round of the best-of-five B.C. Hockey League playoffs at 1-1.
The matchup heads back to Powell River for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday. If necessary, a fifth and deciding game would return to Victoria on Wednesday at Bear Mountain Arena.
“It got some of our players on the bench a bit, especially early in the game. We have to stay out of the box,” said Grizzlies assistant general manager and associate coach Craig Didmon.
“Some of the calls were questionable. We looked at them on video. Sometimes you don’t know what they’ll call, but at the same time you can’t control that, so we have to bear down, as far as our intensity goes. Kill it, get off and stay disciplined.”
Victoria captain Zach Urban put the Grizz on the scoreboard early at 3:24 of the first period on a slapper on a four-on-four situation as it blew by Kings netminder Jonah Imoo.
But Luke Nogard responded just 25 seconds later as the visitors quickly sucked the life out of the building.
Former Grizzlies forward Evan Richardson gave the Kings their first lead of the series with a power-play goal at 18:25 of opening session as the visitors outshot the hosts 12-8 over the first 20 minutes.
Teagan Waugh then deflected a puck by Brady Rouleau 12 minutes into the second for a 3-1 lead as the Kings controlled a lot of the play with five power-play chances in the first 40 minutes of the game.
Leo Fitzgerald hit the crossbar on a late second-period power play for the Grizzlies, and Myles Powell had a great short-handed chance for Victoria early in the third, but was foiled by Imoo.
The Grizzlies also had a two-man advantage for 1:41 late in the game, but failed to produce a goal and went 0-for-8 on man-advantage situations.
“We didn’t bury our chances. We got better as the game went on; we just had trouble executing,” Didmon said. “We’re in a series and we know that. We have to go up there and try to get Game 3.”
The hosts didn’t get the offence required and the Kings played coach Kent Lewis’s defence-first system to near perfection to grab the critical split, blocking a lot of shots.
“I think so, yeah,” Lewis said. “We’ve played not quite the hockey we need to play, but our guys are learning.
“What I’ve learned in the playoffs is how much you grow this time of the year and how much you can get better from Round 1 to 4 — if you can do it.”
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
© Copyright 2013
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SCORING SUMMARY |
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PERIOD 1 |
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Victoria Grizzlies at 3:24 – Zach Urbanfrom David Mazurekand DJ Jones |
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Powell River Kings at 3:49 – Luke Nogardfrom Matt Scarthand Jordan Burns |
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Powell River Kings at 18:25 (PP) – Evan Richardsonfrom Jordan Benton |
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PERIOD 2 |
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Powell River Kings at 11:57 – Teagan Waughfrom Luke Nogardand Jordan Benton |
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PERIOD 3 |
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No Scoring |
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PENINSULA CO-OP GAS STATION: 3 STARS OF THE GAME |
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1st STAR |
2nd STAR |
3rd STAR |
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Powell River Kings Jordan Benton |
Powell River Kings Luke Nogard |
Powell River Kings |
