Much to the delight of the hometown faithful, the Victoria Grizzlies are in the win column at the 2009 RBC Cup.
Twenty-four hours after a heartbreaking opening game loss to the Humboldt Broncos, the Grizzlies earned the all-important first victory at the National Junior A Championship on Sunday night with a 5-0 win over the Kingston Voyageurs.
The tournament hosts controlled most of the game against the Voyageurs, outshooting the Central Region champions 40-21, including 15-4 in the second period, when they scored a pair of goals to pull away.
Jeff Forsythe, the only player on the Victoria roster with previous RBC Cup experience – he played with Prince George in 2007 – paced the offence with two goals and an assist, while Jonathan Milhouse, Brian Nugent and Evan Pighin also put their names on the scoresheet.
After Forsythe opened the scoring less than five minutes into the first period, he notched his second of the game two minutes into the middle frame, rifling a wrist shot over the shoulder of Kingston goaltender Shawn Sirman. Milhouse added insurance five minutes later, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Justin Courtnall, and Nugent and Pighin rounded out the scoring in the third.
Anthony Grieco earned the shutout, turning aside all 21 shots he faced.
The Grizzlies will enjoy an off day on Monday before facing Vernon in an all-BCHL match-up on Tuesday night (7 p.m. PT), while the Voyageurs face Summerside in a battle of winless teams in Monday afternoon (2 p.m. PT).
