The Victoria Grizzlies narrowly avoided falling behind by three games in their first round series against the Nanaimo Clippers on Monday night, scoring a tying goal late in regulation before Madison Dias netted the game winner midway through the first overtime period.
The Grizzlies had gone ahead in the closing minute of the first period when Dylan Nowakowski scored shorthanded, and extended their lead at the 1:41 mark of the second when Brad Pawlowski converted a Dustin mowrey feed past Clippers netminder Loic Boivin.
It took little time for Nanaimo to rally, however, as Andrew Gladiuk brought the home side within one before Colton Cyr and Carson Schell each scored in the span of 1:38 to give the Clippers the lead after 40 minutes. But it was Pawlowski, who was playing his first game back since serving a three-game suspension, who evened things up for the Grizzlies with 1:03 left on the clock and allowing for Dias's overtime winner.
The Grizzlies and Clippers return to the ice for Game 4 on Tuesday evening with Victoria leading the best-of-seven series 2-1. In other Coastal action:
- Jordan Sims scored early in double overtime to lift the Langley Chiefs to a 4-3 victory over the Surrey Eagles and a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Tued midway through the third period, Colton Beck and Andrew Wallace exchanged goals 13 seconds apart to force overtime. Langley's Wyatt Galley picked up his second win in as many games, turning aside 53 shots in a first-star performance for the Chiefs.
- The Powell River Kings took a three-game lead in their series against Cowichan Valley, outshooting the Capitals by a 43-15 margin in a 5-2 road victory. Matt Garbowsky scored twice and added an assist for the Kings, who took a 3-1 lead into the third before scoring back-to-back power-play goals in just over a minute to salt away the win. Rajan Sidhu and Mikael Jung replied in a losing cause for the Caps.
