VICTORIA 3 SALMON ARM 1
With the possibility of a suspension hanging over his head, Zach Urban admits he didn't sleep too well on Thursday night.
He was very much awake on Friday night as the Victoria Grizzlies' captain had his first goal and added two assists in the opening 20 minutes alone as the locals trumped the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 3-1 in front of an announced crowd of 1,065 at Bear Mountain Arena.
"I got a little bit of sleep," said Urban, who escaped the wrath of the B.C. Hockey League commissioner after expressing his displeasure to officials after the last home game, a 3-2 loss to Coquitlam last weekend.
"I didn't find out I was playing until 3: 45 or so. It was good to get in. I felt pretty good for the lack of preparation time for the fact I didn't know I was playing until late."
The big defenceman, the game's No. 1 star, got the team going early offensively as Brett Hartskamp jumped on a rebound of Urban's shot to make it 1-0 just 49 seconds in. It was Hartskamp's first goal of the season and first as a member of the Grizzlies.
Then Urban made it 2-0, also with his first as a Grizzly, on a power play at 5: 38 of the opening stanza. He then collected his second assist as the Fitzgerald triplets got into the act with Leo scoring and Myles assisting along with Urban at 7: 54 of the first as Victoria out-shot Salmon Arm 13-4.
"It was a bit of a reprieve for him and I'm sure he was excited to get a chance to play when he thought that he wasn't," Grizzlies general manager and head coach Bill Bestwick said of Urban.
Defensively, goaltender Brady Rouleau returned to the Victoria lineup to earn his second win as he has been nursing a cranky back for the last couple of weeks.
The Silverbacks got on the scoreboard with a power-play goal at 6: 13 of the second as Carter Luk-enda provided the only goal as the Grizzlies sagged a tad, out-shot 10-7 in the middle frame.
Victoria improves to 6-3-0-1 while the Silverbacks - who have struggled offensively scoring just six goals in six games heading into the contest and shutout three times - slide to 1-5-0-1.
The Grizzlies travel to Powell River today to face the Kings. Game time is 7: 30 p.m.
