Andy Siegel
Special to the Review
It was another action-packed week at the Revelstoke Forum, with three games between Tuesday (Jan. s18) and Saturday (Jan. 22).
It started on Tuesday night, as the Revelstoke Grizzlies played a game to remember against the Chase Heat in front of an electrified crowd.
Captain Cole ‘Ice’ Berg opened the scoring for the Grizzlies on the power-play, continuing the Grizzlies excellence with the man advantage this season, at 14:14 in the first period.
Just four minutes later, the Heat would level the game through a power-play goal from Tanner Chapman. The Grizzlies responded quickly though, as Jacob Smith put the home team back on top through another power-play goal, his 10th of the season.
A tightly contested second period resulted in the away team levelling the score.
The Heat started the third like a bull in a china shop, netting twice in the first five minutes to take a commanding 4-2 lead. The fans at the Forum hung their heads momentarily.
Then, the floodgates opened.
Berg started the comeback for the Grizzlies, netting his second of the night off a pass from Smith. Then, less than a minute later, Kaleb West let rip a shot from the blue-line, over Roderic May’s shoulder to level the game.
Gage Lajeunesse, playing his first game in Grizzlies colours, looked more comfortable on the ice with every shift. He capped off a good debut with the go-ahead-goal, a shot from a long way out off a Brandon Kasdorf pass ti give the Grizzlies a 5-4 lead.
The ice started to tilt in the Grizzlies favour.
Then, the captain netted his third. Coast-to-coast from his own zone, out-muscling and out-working Chase, Berg completed his hat-trick with an amazing solo goal.
Chase would pull one back with less than a minute to go before Ronin Pusch netted an empty-netter to put the game to bed.
The Grizzlies scored five in the third period to complete a jaw-dropping comeback, earning a 7-5 win over the Chase Heat on an electric Tuesday night.
The weekend was set up nicely, with back-to-back games against the travelling 100 Mile House Wranglers at the Forum.
Friday saw another sold out 50 per cent capacity crowd.
After a barrage of shots and great effort from the Grizzlies during the second power play of the opening period, Bennett Kuhnlein made a terrific rush to the right side of the net somehow finding a tiny opening, shooting the puck into the upper right corner. 1-0 Grizzlies.
Twelve minutes into the period and the Wranglers barely had any shots on net.
Despite dominating their opponents, the Grizzlies only had one goal on the scoreboard with four minutes left in the period.
The Grizzlies were up 19-5 on shots after the first period.
The second period started out same with the Grizzlies getting a number of good shots on goal but no success finding the back of the net.
Soon after at 17:30, Revelstoke’s Cole Berg and Brandan Kasdorf combined for an excellent rush from the left side getting off a low shot that slid to the right side where Will McPhee was in perfect position to shoot the rebound into the open goal. 2-0 Grizzlies.
Shots were 31-10 after the second period.
Another questionable penalty call on 100 Mile House at 2:27 of the third period for tripping gave the Grizzlies an opportunity to take a commanding lead. On back to back shots from the point, Brandon Gallo delivered what appeared to be the knockout punch with a hard mid-level wrist shot that dropped into the crease, dribbling past the goal line for a 3-0 Grizzlies’ lead.
But with a two-man advantage, 100 Mile House made a gutsy decision to pull the goalie which paid off, ending their scoring drought with an unassisted high wrist shot from the right side of the key by Tyler Lalikeas.
Seconds later from the center of the slot, the Wranglers got a much needed break when Ethan Smid shot the puck through a crowd into the left side of the goal. Shortly after, another Grizzlies penalty to Tyden McWillis put the home team on the ropes fighting to protect a 3-2 lead.
Almost 90 seconds later the Wranglers were called for a charging call. This resulted in a beautiful wrist shot from Gage Lajeunesse inside the left point that sailed into the opposite right corner for a crucial goal to double Revelstoke’s lead at 4-2.
Soon after, 100 Mile House stole the puck for a breakaway that Kuchaslo made a great save on.
Final shots were 55-24 as usual in favor of the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies capped off a great week with a blow-out on Saturday night.
A dominant performance from the Grizzlies all around, capped off by a hat-trick from Will McPhee, as they out-shot the Wranglers 66-14 en route to a 7-0 victory.
The Grizzlies win-streak now sits at 7 games.