The Victoria Grizzlies were a goal away from eliminating the top seeded Powell River Kings but it was the Kings who would live to see another day as they prevailed with a 3-2 overtime win Monday night.
After a scoreless opening frame, Victoria put the puck in first when Taylor Pernerowski lit the lamp on the power play just three and a half minutes into the middle stanza. Powell River replied before the end of the period when Andrew Pettitt scored with six minutes to go to knot the game at one.
The Kings continued their strong play after outshooting the Grizzlies 28-9 in the first two periods and were rewarded when Carter Shinkaruk scored early in the period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. Powell River would hold onto the lead late into the third when with just a minute left in regulation, Victoria’s Dustin Johnson scored a clutch goal to tie the game at two sending the game to sudden death.
Victoria had a golden opportunity in overtime when Powell River's Chris Williams was penalized for roughing at 8:35. Unable to capitalize with the man advantage, the penalty kill seemed to spark the Kings as just a few minutes later Jon Jutzi scored for Powell River as the Kings stay alive in this Coastal Conference Semi-Final. Goaltender Matt Ginn stood on his head again for the Grizzlies as they were outshot 9-1 in overtime and 51-19 throughout the game, but it wasn’t enough as Powell River skated to a 3-2 overtime win. Game six goes Tuesday night in Victoria.
In Langley fans left the rink disappointed as the Chiefs postseason came to an end with a 4-2 loss at the hands of the Surrey Eagles. Langley went up 2-0 in the first with goals by Kit Sitterley and Brandon Thompson only to see the lead evaporate before the end of the period as Surrey answered back with goals of their own when Josh Monk and Tyler Morley scored three minutes apart knotting the game at two heading into the second. Tyler Morley got his second of the night and Robert Lindroes added insult to injury as the Surrey Eagles move on to the Coastal Conference Finals with a big 4-2 win on the road.
Salmon Arm eliminated Penticton with a 4-2 win as they will now move on to the Interior Conference Final. Devin Muller opened the scoring in the first for the Gorillas and they would add to their lead with a goal in the second period by Morgan Zulinick. Joey Holka cut the lead in half as he scored three minutes later for the Vees, but in the third the SilverBacks would score twice more to put the game ever more out of reach. Brett Knowles and Jarred Ten Vaanholt scored 14 seconds apart to put Salmon Arm up by three. Logan Johnston would score for the Vees to make it interesting but that’s as close as they’d come as the SilverBacks skated to the series victory.
In Vernon it was all Vipers as they skated to a commanding 7-1 win over the Westside Warriors. Although there was no scoring in the first period, Vernon came out firing on all cylinders in the second frame as David Robinson, Michael Zalewski, Patrick McGillis and Darren Nowick all scored for the Vipers to give them a healthy 4-0 lead heading into the third. Vernon would further add to their lead in the final frame as Patrick McGillis scored his second of the night and Adam Thompson and Dylan Walchuk both added singles to improve the lead to 7-0. Tyler French scored the lone goal for the Warriors as they now face elimination Tuesday night in West Kelowna.
