VICTORIA 6
ALBERNI VALLEY 3
Heading into enemy territory, the Victoria Grizzlies were hoping to strike first at the always loud Port Alberni Weyerhaeuser Arena.
Jamie Rome and Tyler Welsh scored goals less than two minutes apart by the 15:11 mark of the first period to pace the visitors to a 6-3 win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in B.C. Hockey League play on Wednesday night.
“In this barn, for sure. It’s a tough place to play and you never want to hear that horn,” Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon said of the infamous goal horn in the Alberni rink. “We wanted to get things going early.
“We got the 2-0 lead, but we had that the last time we played them and had to beat them in overtime. That’s a team that never quits so we wanted to keep pushing.”
Jake Witkowski got one back on the power play just 39 seconds into the second period for the Bulldogs, but Cole Pickup restored the two-goal advantage at 3:55 of the middle frame. Cory Hatcher, late in the second, and Dayne Finnson, early in the third, made it 5-1 Victoria.
Witkowski and Auggie Moore then recorded power-play goals for Alberni, who had 11 power-play opportunities on the night, before Jake Stevens added an empty-netter for the Grizzlies.
Matthew Galajda faced 32 shots in the Victoria net while starter Carson Schamerhorn allowed four goals on 19 shots before Brody Claeys stopped five of six in relief.
The now 5-1-1-1 Grizzlies will be back at home to the Coquitlam Express on Friday at 7 p.m. at The Q Centre before hitting the road again for Powell River to face the Kings at Hap Parker Arena on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. The Bulldogs slip to 3-3-1-0.
In Powell River on Wednesday, the host Kings improved to 4-4 on the season with a resounding 7-1 win over the Nanaimo Clippers, who fall to 3-4.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
Twitter/tc_vicsports
