VICTORIA 4
SALMON ARM 1
Twelve members of the Victoria Grizzlies wrote their U.S. college entrance exams on Saturday morning at the University of Victoria, then helped their club pass a big on-ice test in the evening, defeating the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 4-1 at The Q Centre.
Captain P.J. Conlon scored twice as Victoria posted its sixth straight victory, the longest win streak of the B.C. Hockey League season, and brings the Grizzlies to .500 in the win-loss column for the first time in 2015-16.
With the victory, the Grizzlies improve to 20-20-0-4. Salmon Arm, which lost 6-4 the previous night in Cowichan Valley, drops to 24-13-0-3.
“We were a little slow out of the gates and a lot of that was to do with the guys writing [five-hour] tests,” Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon said.
“It seemed like after the first period, Chuck Bennis was very vocal in the dressing room, that this was a game for us and I felt after listening to him that we would be OK. For us to come out the way we did in the second period and take it to them, shows me that this team is for real.”
Ross Heidt opened the scoring for the Silverbacks at 5:36 of the first period, which the visitors totally dominated, outshooting the Grizzlies 16-5. Kevin Massy hit the crossbar on a late Victoria power play in the same stanza.
That seemed to generate a spark as the Grizzlies used goals 1:47 apart from Conlon and Mitchell Barker early in the second to stun Salmon Arm goaltender Angus Redmond, who had most of the opening 20 minutes off.
Brayden Gelsinger upped the lead to 3-1 on a screened shot on a power play at 7:10 of the second and Conlon added an empty-netter with 51 seconds remaining.
The Silverbacks outshot the Grizzlies 36-20 overall, but found themselves down as Victoria netminder Matthew Galajda continued his stellar play.
It was Galajda’s first start in three games, after Mitchel Benson had recorded wins in Prince George and Surrey last weekend.
Since their return in 2016, the Grizzlies have outscored their opposition 25-9 in racking up the six victories.
The Grizzlies entertain Redbull Salzburg, a touring under-20 Austrian team, on Wednesday at The Q Centre. A lunch will be held at Westin Bear Mountain at noon. The $50-for-one lunch comes with two tickets to the 7 p.m. game.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
Twitter/tc_vicsports
