The Revelstoke Grizzlies defeated the Golden Rockets 3-1 on Saturday to earn a split of their weekend against teams from the Eddie Mountain Division.
The Grizzlies started the weekend in Invermere where they faced the Columbia Valley Rockies, who are seeing a resurgence after years in the league’s basement.
Revelstoke got off to a fast start when they started the game with a power play after Peter Matthews was penalized for a warm-up violation. Matt MacDonald scored 64 seconds into the game to put Revelstoke up 1-0.
The Rockies didn’t take long to respond, with Jerome Thome scoring twice and Ryan Henderson adding another to put their team up 3-1. Aiden Silzer-Hooker got one back for Revelstoke on the power play with less than two minutes left in the first, but Doan Smith scored another for Columbia Valley to give his team a 4-2 lead at the end of one.
Smith scored again 3:20 into the second to put Revelstoke down by three, but the Grizzlies’ top line of MacDonald, Devon Hascarl, and Kyler Wilkinson brought their team back into the game. First, at 11:27 of the second, Wilkinson scored, then, seven minutes later, MacDonald got his second of the game to pull Revelstoke within one. Dustin Boone scored for Columbia Valley with 63 seconds left in the period to restore the Rockies two-goal lead.
In the third, Brendan Jay scored 41 seconds in to bring Revelstoke within one. However, that was the closest they would get, as Thome completed his hat trick with an empty-netter with two seconds to go to give Columbia Valley a 7-5 win.
On Saturday, the Grizzlies hosted the Golden Rockets at the Forum in a battle of last-place teams. Unlike the previous days high-scoring affair, Saturday’s game was a low-scoring battle. Hascarl broke the ice with 2:51 left in the third with his 10th goal of the season.
In the second period, the Rockets tied it up with a goal by Tanner Watt. The game remained tied at one until the final minutes of the third, when Kyler Wilkinson scored a power play goal to put Revelstoke up 2-1. Tre Mason added an empty-netter and Revelstoke took the 3-1 win.
The weekend leaves the Grizzlies with a 3-8-0-2 record on the season. The teams closes out the month of October with three games this week. On Thursday they host the Kimberley Dynamiters, who currently have the second best record in the league. On Friday they travel to Princeton to face the Posse and on Saturday they visit the Osoyoos Coyotes.