Duncan, BC ~ The Victoria Grizzlies came from behind on four separate occasions to defeat the Cowichan Valley Capitals 8-7 in overtime on Saturday night at the Cowichan Valley Community Centre.
The Capitals started the evening quickly with two goals in a minute and a half early in the opening frame; however, Victoria battled back to tie things up by the 16-minute mark. They first got a steal and a snipe from Landon Mackie (10th) before a power-play tally from Reece Gault (6th). Cowichan would, however, get the lead back with less than a minute and a half to go in the period.
The Grizzlies scored another power-play goal in the first five minutes of the second on a nifty deke from Owen Warnick (10th) to tie things up. They then got their first lead off a breakaway goal from the stick of Max Silver (16th) just over four minutes later.
Once again, the Capitals scored twice in quick succession to take the lead with 15:44 gone in the second before Victoria once again tied things up on a breakaway goal from Artur Gross (11th), and the game was square at five apiece after forty minutes.
The game continued to delve out some of the most wild gameplay seen in quite sometime as the third period got underway with Cowichan taking the lead on a powerplay before Landon Cowper (2nd) tied it right back up for the Grizzlies. Less than two minutes later the Capitals seemed to crush the spirits of the Grizzlies by going up 7-6 off a goal off the rush.
The Grizzlies, who showed tremendous heart throughout the evening, defied the odds and tied the game one yet against with just over a minute and a half later. That goal came from Matthew Jenken (5th) and sent the Grizzlies bench into an elated celebration.
The Grizzlies completed the comeback by scoring at the 0:59 second mark of overtime. Owen Warnick (11th) snagged his second of the game and ended the contest for what should be remembered as one of the games of the year and most memorable contests in recent history.
Owen Warnick and Artur Gross had four-point nights for the Grizzlies, who improved to 15-15-1 on the season, defeating the first-place BCHL Capitals.
