Marty Westhaver scored the game-winner against the Chiefs on Sunday.
Photograph By DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
Brian Drewry / Times Colonist
DECEMBER 16, 2019 10:03 PM
It had all the makings for the dreaded let-down game. But someone forgot to tell the Victoria Grizzlies.
A mere 16 hours after taking down the Island Division-leading Nanaimo Clippers in a heated, emotional — not to mention more than three-hour long game due to a broken pane of glass and the Teddy Bear Toss — the Grizzlies went up against the Chilliwack Chiefs, a team Victoria had yet to face this season. And despite the Chiefs having two NHL draft picks — forward Nikita Nesterenko (Minnesota) and defenceman Cooper Moore (Detroit) — and 10 players committed to NCAA schools, the Grizzlies found a way to pull out a 4-3 win over the Mainland Division second-place Chiefs (18-11-6) in front of 913 fans at The Q Centre on Sunday afternoon.
While rookie netminder Joe Howe kept the Grizzlies close, finishing the game with 33 saves, Victoria captain Marty Westhaver saved the day, like he has numerous times already this season. With the game tied and a little more than three minutes left in regulation, Westhaver sped down the right wing and wired a wrist shot past a stunned Kolby Thornton in the Chiefs net for the game-winner. It was Grizzlies’ third straight victory and it meant a little more because Victoria was also without leading scorer Cody Monds as the B.C. Hockey League’s top scorer among rookies was home sick.
“We were concerned about how, emotionally, we could settle down after [Saturday night] but we came out with some good energy,” said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon, whose club improved to 14-23-0.
“The second period, we weren’t as structured as we should have been, but our veterans stepped up in the third and got our game back to where it should be, and obviously a huge goal by Marty and a big one from [Vincent] Nardone before that so I’m proud of the way the guys hung in there tonight.”
It took Nesterenko just five minutes to show why the Wild chose him in the sixth round of last summer’s NHL draft. He finished off a three-way passing play with a one-timer past Howe to give the Chiefs the early lead.
The Grizzlies’ power play got that back seven minutes later when blue-liner James Davenport one-timed a pass from fellow rookie Brendan Bowie. And Davenport, an NCAA commit to Brown University, wasn’t finished there. The 19-year-old floated a wrist shot in from the blue line to give the Grizzlies the lead at the 10-minute mark of the second period.
But back-to-back Chilliwack goals late in the second set up a big third period. Nardone struck just 1:32 in to the final frame, before Westhaver buried his 14th goal of the season.
Next up for the Grizzlies is another home-and-home set with the Clippers beginning Friday night at Frank Crane Arena and finishing Saturday night at The Q Centre before the teams disperse for the Christmas break.
LOOSE PUCKS: Thanks to a pair of wins over the Clippers last week, Grizzlies’ rookie netminder Blake Wood has been named the BCHL player of the week. The 18-year-old Wood, who hails from Nanaimo, stopped 80 of 84 shots he faced, finishing the week with a .952 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average. Wood has now won five of his last six starts and improved his record to 8-9. He’s the first Grizzlies player to win a player-of-the-week honour this season.
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