The Express ran into a hot goaltender and an opportunistic offence on Saturday night as the Grizzlies showed up and showed out on home ice. Adorned in their custom Armed Forces Appreciation Night jerseys, Victoria held the line after giving up an early lead and battled to take the lead. They never looked back.
The early bright spot for Coquitlam came on the powerplay as David Brandes scored his second of the season. A seeing-eye point shot made its way into the back of the goal to jumpstart the Express’ efforts. Before the opening frame was through Alex Hebblethwaite put his signature on this game as he made a nice move to centre of the zone while breaking full tilt over the blueline. He used that momentum to rip a shot that powered through the five-hole of Eric Young.
Period two saw the Grizzlies continue to claw their way to a bigger lead. Seamus Latta ripped a shot off Eric Young’s pads that rebounded straight to Tom Molson. His fourth of the season brought the Q to life and gave Victoria their first lead of the night. Alex Hebblethwaite was back at it again, this time threading a pass to Jacksenn Hungle to rip home a backdoor shot on the powerplay. Kyle Kelsey added the cherry on top with a pair of miraculous pad saves as the Express tried just about everything to counter the building lead. If one of those key saves instead results in a goal, the entire game could shift if Coquitlam takes the wind out of their opponents sails. Trip Pendy also had a puck roll just out of his reach at the near post following a rebound play. If he was a foot further away from the goal when the biscuit landed then the red light lamps in Coquitlam’s favour. It just goes to show how hockey is a game of fast moments and mere inches.
Victoria kept rolling in period three as Coquitlam didn’t back down but Kelsey and the defence weathered the rough waters. The Express could not buy a goal with chances both from distance and in tight either going high, wide, or into the waiting netminder. Tom Molson put the dagger into the hearts of the Express as he tracked down a rebound in front of Eric Young and smacked it home. The Montreal product got his fourth and fifth of the BCHL season enroute to first star honours tonight. Easton Kovacs added an empty netter as Victoria survived a spirited extra-attacker bid.
After the game Jeff Wagner came up for the post contest interview and started by acknowledging the effort he felt his team put forth tonight. “I honestly felt we played better than we did last night in Cowichan”, he remarked. Initially, when you look at a 5-1 loss, that statement seems a bit of a miscalculation. When you dig a little deeper, there is merit to it. Victoria came out on the winning end of net front battles in some cases but there were also several that went Coquitlam’s way. The Express also all but scored three more goals than the final statline portrayed, but Kelsey happened to throw his body into the right spot to stop the puck. Furthermore, Coquitlam outshot the Grizzlies 42-36 on the night and looked good offensively overall.
The road team definitely felt the impact of their missing players as Joseph Odyniec and Cooper Wilson were out of commission due to injuries accrued last night against the Capitals. It gave guys a chance to step up and in most cases that was exactly what they did. Now the task is to keep hold of the positives as they head back to the drawing board for a quick turnaround back home on Wednesday. The Vipers are in town for a showdown at the Train Station.
A very cool moment came at the end of it all as the Grizzlies collectively jumped against the glass behind their goal as they celebrated the win. Many of the Armed Forces personnel in attendance were seated in that very section. Seeing that jubilation shared between the players and attending heroes was extremely special.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER – Jacksenn Hungle
MARINER BREWING THREE STARS
3rd – VIC – Seamus Latta – 2A
2nd – VIC – Alex Hebblethwaite – 1G 2A
1st – VIC – Tom Molson – 2G
– Ian Wilson
