Heat down Grizzlies 5-4 in a shootout

Andy Siegel

Special to the Review

On the last Tuesday game of the season at the Forum a solid crowd turned out to cheer on the Grizzlies as they took on their Rivals the Chase Heat. Last time out against the Heat, the Grizzlies recorded a come-from-behind win.

READ MORE: Captain Berg nets a hat-trick, Revelstoke Grizzlies complete comeback win

The game started out with a thud for the home team. Just 39 seconds into the contest, the Grizzlies allowed Chase forward Jarod Sigouin to shoot the puck from the right key, finding its way into the top right corner of the net. 1-0 early on.

23 seconds later on a scramble in front of the left side of the goal Jacob Biensch found the puck and slid it into the net on the ice.

Two goals against the Grizzlies in 62 seconds really put Revelstoke’s back against the wall to start the game.

A tripping penalty against Chase at 5:51 gave the Grizzlies an opportunity to slice the lead in half. Unfortunately, a miscue by Revelstoke’s Will McPhee at the blue line on the power play allowed Trevor Kennedy to skate past him with the puck on his stick. Closing the angle towards the goal, he made a gorgeous deke snaking the puck through goaltender Josef Kuchaslo’s five-hole for a commanding 3-0 lead.

With about 4 minutes left in the first period, Brandon Kasdorf exploded for a mid-ice breakaway. He made a terrific move to the left side of the net but Heat goaltender Jack Osmond made an excellent save with the leg pad preventing him from lifting the puck in for a score.

Shots after the 1st were 18-16 in favour of the Grizzlies.

The 2nd period started out with both teams skating hard for the next key goal. Finally, at 6:05 the home team got on the scoreboard from a beautiful rush up the left side of the ice when Luke Aston and Kasdorf combined on a perfect pass across the crease for Bennett Kuhnlein to tip it into the right side of the goal.

Next up on the score sheet for the Grizzlies assisted by Vin Jackson and Cole Berg was Jake Wallace who edged the home team closer to tying the game at 14:01.

The Heat came right back with a goal of their own by Jacob Biensch at 17:20 who poked in the puck in the right side of the net to double the lead once again at 4-2.

Before Chase finished celebrating, Revelstoke’s Porter Trevelyan connected with Ethan Mattern and Carter Bettenson at 17:30 to climb right back to a one-goal deficit at 4-3.

Shots after the 2nd were 37-26 in favor of Revelstoke.

The English Fan section that’s been incredible all season were relentless from the initial 0-2 deficit in their support of the Grizzlies. They kept up an amazing variety of chants that would have fit right in at a European soccer match in London or Paris.

Money was no object for one lad who stuck a $20 bill through the glass trying to bribe the referee to get a penalty call.

Continuing his growth as one of the leaders for Revelstoke this season, Kasdorf evened the score at 15:45 assisted by Luke Aston. A non-stop persistent effort by the entire team to tie the game paid off huge when he somehow was able the find the puck through a crowd in front of the goal.

Shots after 3 periods were 53-34 with Chase not getting one on the net for the latter part of the game. It appeared they were rattled giving up the lead they jumped out to barely a minute into the game.

After a hard-fought 5 minute 3-on-3 overtime period, the winner could not be found.

This led to a penalty shootout.

Despite good moves on shots from the Grizzlies Kasdorf, Jackson, and Wallace they were edged by one Chase Heat goal to lose what was one of the most exciting games of the Grizzlies home schedule. 5-4 the final in favour of the Heat.

READ MORE: Hat-trick hockey: Recapping a successful week for the Revelstoke Grizzlies