Victoria, BC ~ The Langley Rivermen came from behind three separate times to defeat the Victoria Grizzlies 4-3 on Saturday night at the George Preston Arena in Langley.
After a shaky start on both sides, Victoria got the opener at 12:50, taking advantage of a Rivermen giveaway. A.J. Valenti threw the puck right up the middle of his own zone onto the stick of Maddux Martin (6th), who wired a wrist shot off the far post and in for the ice breaker.
That lead wouldn’t last long, as Parker Forlin (13th) benefited from a botched entry by the Grizzlies a minute and twenty seconds later. They turned it over, and Forlin was sprung to beat Patrik Kliment’s low glove. That tied the game, and we were all square at one-a-piece after twenty minutes.
Early in the second, Victoria jumped back ahead with Parker MacDougall (3rd) tipping home his third of the season. After some nice interplay on the perimeter, Landon Cowper was able to slide it in front for the Grizzlies rookie to punch in.
The Rivermen again answered not long after. Two avoidable roughing penalties bit the Grizzlies. Zach Benayon (24th) (PP) stole a clearance opportunity in the house and beat Kliment, who was on his stomach, down and out. Tie game again at the break, but this time 2-2.
In the third, once again, it was Victoria going ahead. Zach Chehade (2nd) put the Grizzlies back on top with his first with the team just past the halfway mark of the period. A huge goal for the Grizzlies felt like it very well could be the winner.
Sadly, it was not to be as the Rivermen scored two goals in less than two minutes that you could just not make up.
First a wrist shot from the high slot from Benayon (25th) went off a stick, twenty feet in the air and landed directly behind Kliment in the Grizzlies crease to tie the game 11:59. At 13:36 a centering pass that would’ve ended up in the near corner ricocheted off a Grizzly and over Kliment’s shoulder for two straight wild bounce goals against the run of play.
Desperate to tie the game late, Victoria pulled the goaltender for a sixth attacker and was awarded a penalty shot with less than 30 seconds left in the game. That came due to Rivermen captain Darius Bachler covering the puck with his hands in the Langley crease during a chaotic scramble. Unfortunately for Victoria, Artur Gross was stopped by Maverick Avent on the ensuing showdown, and the Rivermen survived a frantic final-second push.
Victoria falls to 16-18-2 this season, while the Rivermen jumped to 19-18-0.
Patrik Kliment was marvellous in the Grizzly crease, making 31 saves on 35 shots, while his counterpart, Maverick Avent, was steady, stopping 33 of 36 shots.
