The Grizzlies got back to winning ways with a hard fought victory on Friday night; which keeps them top of the Island Division by two points over the surging Alberni Bulldogs at this time.
A three point night from Zach Urban and Brett Hartskamp's first goal as a Grizzlies where highlights tonight in I'm sure a confidence builder for both players.
Without the suspended David Musarek and Justin Coachman along with missing Chase Kaiser for the second game in a row, the Grizzlies went about there business well tonight and where well worthy of the win.
1st Period: The Grizzlies would get out of the gate early piling pressure on the Silverbacks net and would be rewarded in the first minute with Brett Hartskamp first Grizzlie goal. After some nice work from Dante Hahn, would lay the puck off to Urban who's shot rebounded to Brett, who made no mistake with the follow up. 'Backs' goalie Colin Dzijacky had no chance on that one, even though he made a good initial save from Zach. Zach Urban would record his first Grizzlies point on that assist. 1-0 Grizz.
Zach Urban, who was excellent tonight and led by example, would score Victoria's second with a strong wrist shot that ended up in the top right hand corner of Dzijacky net. DJ Jones would get the assist on Urban's first goal as a Grizzlies.
The Fitzgerald's for me really showed there defensive side to their game tonight battled hard tonight and kept their offensive output going, after a loose puck in the Backs zone, would see Urban and Myles set up Leo to give the Grizzlies a commanding 3 goal lead at the mid-way point of the period.
The Grizzlies would control most of the first and as it took the Silverbacks a while to get going ,but, would test Grizz goalie Rouleau with a couple of shots towards the periods end.
The Grizzlies would lose Blake Thompson to an injury in the first as an awkward would fall would see a 'Backs' player come down hard on his leg, forcing an early exit.
3-0 Grizzlies at the end of the first.
2nd Period: Salmon Arm, would start to asset themselves in the Grizzlies zone and the game became a bit of a neutral zone battle and lost a little intensity in the middle frame
Myles Powell looked in the mood tonight as he created chances and tested the Dzijacky a couple of times. Powell, who was on a line with Nicholishen and Lawson played some good shifts together tonight.
Credit to Polishcuk, McLellan and Walchuk who worked hard for everything the shifts they where out for and where getting the upper hand in the battles along the board.
I liked the PP pairing of DeJong and Jones who again looked dangerous going forward.
However, it would be Salmon Arm that would bring themselves into the games with a PP goal from Lukenda after seven minutes.
The second would end 3-1 Grizzlies
3rd Period: No scoring,but, a determined Grizzlies team would keep the Backs at bay and turned in a good team performance over three periods. Turner Lawson, would forecheck and continue to unnerve Salmon Arm whenever he was on shift and some nice penalty killing from both teams would be the highlight of the final third.
Myles Fitzgerald(yes Myles), put two nice hits on a couple of Silverbacks which really took them out of the play. The triplets can take a hit and are looking like there doing there best to give as good as they get.
Zach Urban, demonstrated his leadership skills as things started to boil over in the final minute, with a 'Backs' player goading Urban into a fight. Zach, took the high road and should be proud of his effort tonight.
A 3-1 Grizzlies victory would be the final.
Game Thoughts Grizzlies - Well rounded performance from the Grizzlies tonight and a great first period effort that really put the game away early.
Zach Urban had his best game in a Grizzlies uniform and led the way with 3 points. The points weren't the best part of his game tonight as his cool under pressure in his own zone and positioning at both ends of the ice where excellent tonight.
Turner Lawson, who is always a presence on the ice really added to what could be a promising line in Powell, Nicholishen and Lawson.
The Fitzgeralds played well in both zones tonight and continued to impress the home town fans.
A solid performance from Brady Rouleau tonight as well.
Juston Polischuk worked his socks off tonight and looks like he's really making a case to the Grizzlies coaching staff.
All in all a good win on home ice and something to build on with a tricky match up against Powell River coming up tomorrow night.
Game Thoughts Silverbacks: Scott Robinson has a work in progress, but, would some nice pieces to build around. The 'Backs', came into the game in the second and had goalie Colin Dzijacky to thank for keeping them in it. This could be a difficult season for Salmon Arm, but, with Robinson at the helm and a good BCHL market, hopefully the Shuswap outfit will get things back to winning ways soon.
Attendence - 1065 Shots on Goal - Grizzlies 28 and 'Backs' 17
Powerplays - Grizzlies 1 for 5 and 'Backs' 1 for 3
Three Stars - * Zach Urban ** DJ Jones *** Gerry Fitzgerald
No comments:
Post a Comment