Thursday, September 3, 2015 – Submitted by Mario Annicchiarico / Times Colonist
A two-goal second period, followed by a three-goal third, lifted the Nanaimo Clippers to their first win of the B.C. Hockey league pre-season on Wednesday night, bouncing back from a 2-1 first-period deficit for a 6-2 triumph over the visiting Victoria Grizzlies.
The night previous, the Grizzlies recorded their first victory in a 2-1 win over Nanaimo at Juan de Fuca Arena.
Victoria was up 2-0 Wednesday on goals by rookie Joey Visconti and veteran P.J. Conlon before a late goal in the opening period gave the Clippers life.
“We had a good 40 minutes, but in the third our youth showed,” said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon. “They had seven 20-year-olds in the lineup and we had four veterans. The three later goals in the third blew it open, otherwise we carried ourselves well for 40-plus minutes.”
Didmon will pare down his lineup to 14 forwards and eight defencemen this morning.
There were rumours circulating on Tuesday that an eastern-based goaltender could be joining the team.
“Not after [Mitchell] Benson’s performance,” he said of Tuesday’s win in which Benson was extremely solid. “Going into Tuesday we really hadn’t seen the best of Micthell, but he showed great confidence.”
On Wednesday, Didmon went to Matthew Galajda in net.
“He was good, too, but he had to make 45 stops,” said Didmon. “There were just too many breakdowns.”
Victoria, now 1-3, would have loved to have recorded back-to-back wins, especially against the rival Clippers, who on Tuesday were slotted in at No. 10 in the Canadian Junior Hockey League pre-season rankings.
The defending champion Penticton Vees are No. 1, with the Prince George Spruce Kings in at No. 15.
The Grizzlies will now travel to face the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday night before the same two teams return to Victoria for a Saturday game at 7 p.m. at Westhills Arena.
