Andy Siegel
Special to the Review
The Revelstoke Grizzlies are leading round one of the playoffs with two wins against the Kamloops Storm.
Game three goes tonight (March 2) in Kamloops.
Friday-Game 1
The Grizzlies won 6-0.
It was a fast paced scoreless first period with a number of solid body checks but the visitors from Kamloops looked determined not to give up that all important first goal.
It was apparent right from the first drop of the puck they forgot about the regular season standings and were on a mission to upset the Grizzlies in game one.
Shots were almost even at the end of the period 13-11.
The second period was more of the same, fast paced with both teams skating extremely hard to score the first goal.
Finally at 11:29 Kole Christiensson dug it out of the right corner and fed it to Cash Sawchyn who shot it into the lower right corner squeezing it past the goalie.
Just a few seconds later Finn Withey put one into the net from in close to double the lead.
Before Kamloops could catch their breath the Grizzlies’ Rider McCallum got on a semi breakaway somehow shoving it past the Storm goalie for a total of three goals in 39 seconds.
With 7:54 left in the period Revelstoke defenceman Brendan Volcano took a shot from the left point which seemed to ricochet off a Storm player to bounce in the net.
Thirty seconds later at 7:18 the home team kept pouring it on with Jordan Kohlman shooting from the far right boards somehow getting it in the goal.
Seconds later a scrum broke out with all the players on the ice scuffling to get in punches on each other but no fights broke out.
With 3:20 left in the second Cody Flann danced around from the left to the right side of the Kamloops zone shooting a beautiful wrist shot into the opposite lower left corner of the net for a commanding 6-0 lead.
Shots at the end of two periods were 39-17 Revelstoke.
The third period was uneventful with no goals keeping the score at 6-0, the Grizzlies played solid defense to keep their shut out intact. Shots at the end of the game were 50-24 with the home team doubling their opponents total.
READ MORE: Grizzlies’ goalie KIJHL star for third time this season
Saturday-Game 2
Grizzlies win 5-2.
Another big crowd filled in the Forum for game two of the playoff series between the Kamloops Storm and Revelstoke Grizzlies but they were more subdued than the previous evening to start.
At 12:36 with only two shots in the first period Kamloops’ Brendan Kirshner rifled a gorgeous low slap shot from the point that found its way through a number of players legs into the left side of the net.
This was exactly what the Storm needed to start the game so they didn’t play from behind.
Shortly after a barrage of Grizzly shots in front of the goal could not get through then after the whistle blew Kamloops Brett Mero threw a vicious cross check to the head of Revelstoke’s Nathan Cohen-Wallis resulting in a five minute major penalty plus game misconduct for the visiting player.
On the power play the Grizzlies’ Jake Huculak scored on a great shot to the upper right corner to even it up at 1-1.
At 4:20 Brendan Volcano took a long wrist shot from the left blue that sailed into the lower right corner of the net for a sweet unassisted goal to give the home team the lead they worked so hard for all period.
With a minute left before intermission the Grizzlies gave themselves a bigger cushion when Jake Petrie scored when the puck bounced off the boards behind the goal to him on the right side of the net.
At the end of the first Revelstoke was back to their normal shot clock ratio tripling their opponents number at 22-6.
The second period started out with four penalties in the first five minutes including one on the Storm for a hit to the head for a 10 minute misconduct, no goals were scored by either team on the power plays.
Midway through the second, Revelstoke appeared to be sitting on their two goal lead still skating hard but not with a sense of urgency.
Sure enough at 9:08 on a deflection from the point Kamloops got a boost when Harrison Ewart scored a much needed goal for the visitors. The rest of the period it was back and forth hockey, each team getting scoring chances with no success.
Shots after two periods were 37-16.
The final period was a quick-skating, hard-hitting match up with both teams really pushing for that important next goal which could determine the direction of the playoff series.
At 8:06 Christensson scooped up a bouncing puck at the blue line to go in alone on a breakaway which he snapped into the upper net for a huge goal to double the lead at 4-2.
This gave the Grizzlies a bit of breathing room to relax as they had not scored since the first.
The icing on the cake, with under a second left, Christensson put in his second goal of the evening on an empty net shot from the far blue line.
Shots at the end of the game were 44-32.
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