VICTORIA 3 PENTICTON 2 (OT)
Down go the champions.
The Victoria Grizzlies used Myles Fitzgerald's double-overtime goal at 2: 34 of the fifth period to edge the Penticton Vees 3-2 on Friday night before 1,323 highly entertained fans at Bear Mountain Arena.
Yes, that's the defending B.C. Hockey League and Royal Bank Cup-champion Penticton Vees.
"We thought it would be highly entertaining," said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Bill Best-wick. "They're a very good hockey club and I think we're a good hockey club and we competed with them every shift.
"They bring out the best in you and that's a team that hasn't lost very many games. This is a real confidence boost for this young group of kids and I'm just so proud of how hard they competed tonight."
Led by Fitzgerald, who went for a long skate down the right boards, cut around the net and stuffed the puck by Vees netmin-der Chad Katunar for the winner, much to the delight of a solid crowd, despite competing for fans with the Victoria Royals downtown and international rugby at Westhills Stadium.
"That's a huge win," said Fitzgerald. "We were in it for the whole game and we knew we should be able to beat this team.
"It came down to the bitter end and I ended up sneaking one by the goalie."
The fans witnessed a fast brand of hockey in an entertaining outing - that included just six penalties, including a fight - as the red-hot Vees dipped to 9-1-0-1 (65-5-0-3 in regular-season play including last year). Victoria improves to 7-4-0-1 and a tie for first place in the Island Division with Alberni Valley, which hammered Nanaimo 7-2 on Friday.
The last penalty, on Victoria's Nolan DeJong, drew a mandatory penalty shot in the second overtime and Grizzlies' netminder Brady Rouleau stopped Mike Rebry, one of 41 saves on the night.
Myles Powell opened up the scoring for the Grizzlies, pouncing on a rebound at 12: 12 of the first period. It set off a string of three goals in 1: 50 as Rebry, who intercepted DeJong's pass, broke in alone to sneak the puck through Rouleau's pads to tie it at 13: 27 on a shorthanded effort.
Blake Thompson got it right back at 14: 02 on a howitzer on the same power play for Victoria.
But Vees sniper, and former Grizzly, Wade Murphy buried one with 2.4 seconds left in the opening period to send the teams to their respective rooms tied at 2-2.
The clubs continued to trade chances but failed to score, including in the four-on-four first overtime.
"We're probably a little bit ahead of where we thought we would be at this time," Vees general manager and head coach Fred Harbinson said before the game. "With the youngest team in the league we thought we might have a few more losses under our belt, but we've had a lot of one-goal wins and we're definitely not getting too far ahead of ourselves.
"I think it's a credit to bringing in good kids who want to work and learn," he added. "Everybody wants to compare us to last year and that's impossible to live up to for any team, really. But our guys skate well, they work really hard every day and we have a good hockey IQ so we've been able to fight our way through some of these tight games early in the year."
IN THE DEN: It was parents' weekend for the Grizzlies as each player handed single roses to their moms or billet moms before the puck drop. Garrett Skrbich's mother Karen dropped the ceremonial puck.
