The old playoff adage states that a team is never in trouble in a playoff series until they lose at home. That logic has been thrown out the window with both Powell River Kings and Victoria Grizzlies trading road victories and squaring a best-of-seven series at two games each after the opening four contests.
For the third straight season, Powell River and Victoria met in the BC Hockey League Island Division final beginning Friday, March 15, at Q Centre in Victoria. Despite extensive preparation, Powell River came out flat, slow and disjointed. The team was outshot 21-3 in the first period and 16-9 in the second, but were tied courtesy of Ben Thomas’ second in as many games.
A pair of third period goals 18 seconds apart for Victoria took the game away from a lacklustre Powell River squad as the Grizzlies drew first blood with a 4-1 win.
“We know tonight was not our night,” said Kings forward Mitch Williams. “We just have to get back to our systems, study the video and really aim to do the exact opposite of what we achieved tonight.”
The studying worked as Powell River rebounded in a big way in game two on Saturday, March 16, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period through Josh Coblenz and Ryan Brushett. However, Victoria reeled the visitors back in and eventually took 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 leads. At each stage, Powell River was able to respond. Third period goals from Thomas and a pair from Levi Glasman sent game two to overtime, with Ben Berard one-timing home his second playoff overtime game winner in three visits to Victoria for a 6-5 win.
“Krogger [Nolan Krogfoss] got on his guy, knocked a puck away and got moving up ice,” said Berard on the setup to his goal. “He threw it to the net off the blocker and it came right to me, and all I had to do was time my shot and hit it when it hit the ice.”
With the series tied at one, games shifted back to Powell River and a venue where Victoria was 0-4 this season.
Grizzlies erased all bad memories with a clinical 60 minutes in game three on Monday, March 18, taking advantage of another disjointed effort from the Kings, who surrendered the game-winning goal on a partial breakaway to defender Carter Berger in the first period. Victoria won 5-0.
“Tonight was a similar game to Friday night where we had a lot of passengers and they came out buzzing,” said Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “It’s disheartening to know we’ve played two games in this series out of three so far when we haven’t even shown up to compete. We had maybe two or three players on Friday and maybe five or six tonight, and they were our younger guys and pushing the pace.”
A pivotal game four took place at Hap Parker Arena on Tuesday, March 19. Berard brought a crowd of nearly 1,100 to their feet with a goal midway through the first period, however, Victoria answered with two goals before intermission. The score stayed that way until Brushett tipped in a Ryan Pouliot point shot with five minutes remaining in the third period to force overtime for the second time in the series.
In the extra session, Glasman got on the end of a Williams pass from the side of the goal to tap in his league-leading ninth goal of the playoffs and second overtime game winner in six games. The 3-2 victory tied the best-of-seven series at two games each.
“It was another emotional rollercoaster, our start was amazing, we came out strong, we were hitting bodies and putting pucks to the net,” said Sawyer following the win. “Our guys came ready to play. Obviously Victoria came back to get a couple but we are able to maintain composure, go to the net and score a big one to tie it in the third.”
The series resumes Friday, March 22, with game five in Victoria, a 7 pm start. Game six is also scheduled for a 7 pm start back at Hap Parker Arena on Saturday, March 23.
Should the teams require a seventh and deciding game, it will take place in Victoria on Monday, March 25.
The series winner will face Prince George Spruce Kings in the third round of the playoffs. Prince George swept defending national champion and 2018/2019 regular season champion Chilliwack Chiefs in four straight games.
