Port Alberni, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies travel up island tonight to meet the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for one last time this season, closing out their regular-season seven-game series at 7:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs have had a significant amount of success against the Grizzlies this season, beating them in four out of six and outscoring them 28-13. Most recently, the Bulldogs completed a season sweep of their games in Victoria, going 4-0 thanks to a 4-2 win on enemy territory on January 3rd. It goes without saying that Victoria has won the only two games this season in Alberni, winning 3-2 on October 25th and 4-2 on December 12th. A Victoria win tonight would signal a very strange phenomenon of both teams winning all away games in the season series.
Interestingly, this has kind of been the story for both teams this year. Victoria and the Alberni Valley are both significantly better on the road than at home in 2025-26. Victoria is 9-11-1 (.452) at home while being 11-8-1 (.575) away from the Q Centre. The Bulldogs are 7-10-2 (.421) at the Alberni Valley Multiplex in addition to being 13-9-1 (.587) as visitors. It has been very different than previous seasons that have seen these two teams be formidable at home. Alberni Valley was 53-24-3 for the past three seasons coming into 2025-26, and Victoria was 47-22-10.
The Grizzlies (20-19-2) sit fourth in the Coastal West Division, just one point behind the Bulldogs (20-19-3) for third. Tonight’s game is an unbelievably important one for both squads in the grand scheme of the 2026 playoff picture. A Grizzlies win would see them sit 3rd with a game in hand and one point up on Alberni, but a loss would have them three points behind the Bulldogs, but still a game in hand. Four-point swing games always seem to have a bit more of a sense of urgency to them.
Victoria will be thankful that they are coming into the evening in good form. They have won four of their last five and made up significant space in the playoff race. Alberni, on the other hand, has not been at their best. They have lost three of five, and in their last ten are 3-7-0.
Scoring has been an area of concern for the Bulldogs, with just 12 goals in their last five games. Their 3.62 goals per game is 11th in the league, but that number is somewhat deceiving. They scored an astounding 28 goals in a three-game span, but take those three contests away, and they are at just 3.17 goals per game. The good news is they don’t give up much. Just over three goals against per game, to be exact.
The Grizzlies will almost certainly turn to Mikus Vecvanags between the pipes. The Latvian international is the hottest goaltender in the BCHL with 4-1-0 record, 2.25 GAA, and .940 SV%. He came on in relief of Mitch Kathler on Monday afternoon and stopped all 15 Surrey shots he saw on the way to his fourth win of the season.
Parker MacDougall is riding a seven-game point streak heading into this evening (5 G, 4 A). Reece Gault has 15 points in his last 14 games (4 G, 11 A) from the Grizzlies defense, Michael Dowdall has scored in three straight, and Carter Oakenfold has eight points over the last five games (3 G, 5 A).
Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m., and you can follow along for free on the Grizzlies Audio Streaming App on MixLR with Tom Wilke or watch with a subscription to FloHockey. The Van Isle Windows Pre-Game show starts at 6:50.
Grizzlies at Bulldogs By The Numbers
2025-26 Team Ranks
| Victoria Grizzlies | Alberni Valley Bulldogs | |
| Record | 20-19-2 (14th) | 20-19-3 (13th) |
| Goals Per Game | 3.95 (7th) | 3.62 (11th) |
| Goal Against Per Game | 4.07 (14th) | 3.29 (6th) |
| Power Play Percentage | 24.8% (9th) | 19.5% (17th) |
| Penalty Kill Percentage | 75.1% (14th) | 75.7% (12th) |
| Penalty Minutes Per Game | 16.71 (3rd) | 14.90 (9th) |
| Home Record | 9-11-1 (13th) | 7-10-2 (14th) |
| Away Record | 11-8-1 (8th) | 13-9-1 (7th) |
| Head To Head | 2-4-0 | 4-2-0 |
