Andy Siegel
Special to the Review
On a bitterly cold night in Revelstoke, a flame of fierce competition was heating the Forum for game two of the closely contested playoff series between the Revelstoke Grizzlies and the Sicamous Eagles.
Coming off an impressive overtime win just a night before, the Grizzlies were eager to double their series lead over their rivals.
The visiting squad came out flying, similar to game one, and in a flurry, on the left side of the goal, Sante Canderan was able to lift a shot into the net at 1:21 for his second goal of the series to give the Eagles an early lead. It silenced the home crowd briefly, but they came right back with several cheers supporting their boys.
Similar to Tuesday’s game with so many infractions there were 6 penalties called in the opening period.
Shots after one period were 13-9 for Revelstoke.
The Grizzlies were handicapped by penalties throughout the second period, and it took everything Brandon Weare had to keep the Eagles from doubling their lead. Weare stopped all 23 shots he faced in the second frame.
The hardest hit of the game was in the second period when Brandon Kasdorf crunched an Eagles player into the boards by the Grizzly bench.
18-32 on shots for Sicamous after two periods.
With five minutes left in the third period, it was looking bleak.
The Grizzlies needed another hero to step up. Revelstoke forward Ronin Pusch made a rush with the puck down the right side, getting to the top of the key where he snapped a terrific shot over the Eagles goalie glove into the right corner of the net. Tie game.
Dejà-Vu? Just like Tuesday’s game, this one would need overtime.
At 16:35 into the extended period, Adam Lemieux found Jacob Smith on the left side of the key where he snapped in the game-winner.
It was a devastating blow to the Sicamous team blowing late leads in back-to-back games losing both in overtime.
The entire Grizzly squad put together an incredible effort not getting discouraged all game with no goals then somehow at the end pulled a rabbit out of their magic hat for the second night in a row.
It was a testament to how fantastic a job head coach Ryan Parent and Assistant Coaches Darren Komonoski and Jiri Novak have done leading the team all year.
It will be hard for the Eagles to rebound from these losses, but the Grizzlies cannot celebrate winning the series yet. Sicamous is a talented team who will fight hard to save their season on Friday and Saturday nights in their home barn.
READ MORE: Recapping a regular season to remember at the Revelstoke Forum
READ MORE: Revelstoke Grizzlies kick off their playoff series against the Sicamous Eagles
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