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Fitzgeralds, Grizzlies feast with overtime wins

Fitzgerald brothers rise to opposition as Grizzlies feast on Vees, Bulldogs in overtime
Victoria Grizzlies vs Port Alberni
Victoria Grizzlies Brett Hartskamp gets dumped by Alberni Valley Bulldog Turner Popoff during a game at Bear Mountain Arena. The Grizz won 3-2 in overtime.

Game Day: Trail Smoke Eaters visit Friday, Oct. 9, 7:15 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena.

Overtime can be a beautiful thing in hockey, especially when the home team wins. And especially because it clears the ice for the Fitzgerald triplets to take advantage of the extra ice made available with four skaters aside in the first over time and three aside in the second overtime.

And they did just that, with Myles Powell scoring in the first OT on Sunday to edge the visiting Alberni Bulldogs 3-2, and Myles Fitzgerald scoring in double OT on Friday to burn the Penticton Vees.

B次元官网网址淲e learned a valuable lesson (on the weekend), how good teams are and how hard you have to work to be successful,B次元官网网址 head coach Bill Bestwick said.

PowellB次元官网网址檚 goal capped the GrizzliesB次元官网网址 shining weekend of hockey.

Beating the Bulldogs (7-5-2) puts the Grizzlies (8-4-1) into first in the Island division, one point up on the Bulldogs. Beating the league-leading and reigning national champion Vees (10-2-1) reestablishes the Grizz among the BCHL best, and erased the three-game losing streak to Nanaimo, Coquitlam and Powell River.

B次元官网网址淧enticton was probably the best junior-A a game IB次元官网网址檇 seen in two years,B次元官网网址 Bestwick said.

B次元官网网址淎lberni played a perfect road game, I tip my cap to them how good they played. IB次元官网网址檓 going to tell their coach what a great game they played and I hope he accepts it as a respectful thing.B次元官网网址

The wins are also proof positive that the diminutive Fitzgerald triplets have arrived as a top line in the BCHL, able to carry a team against the leagueB次元官网网址檚 best.

On Friday Myles Powell and Blake Thompson put the Grizz up 2-1 before Wade Murphy, a Saanich native, tied it for the Vees. The score remained 2-2 until Myles Fitzgerald scored an unassisted goal during the three-on-three, double overtime.

Then on Sunday it was Gerry Fitzgerald carrying the sweet stick. Gerry earned the first assist on all three Grizzlies goals as his team mounted a third period comeback and overcame the the BulldogsB次元官网网址 2-0 lead. He set up a Myles for a wrist shot goal three minutes in, drew a defender to the corner and slid it to the net for a Leo Fitzgerald tap-in at 14 minutes. In overtime Gerry drew a defender to the left corner and fired a perfect pass to Powell, who was barreling towards the net unchecked, and buried it under the diving body of goalie Brad Reblagliati.

B次元官网网址淚n the first and second we had a lot of chances we didnB次元官网网址檛 bury and we were frustrated,B次元官网网址 Gerry said. Hidden from the announced Sunday crowd of 936 was some second-period negativity on the bench, but the frustrations were displayed for all when Turner Lawson was sent off for a blow to the head, which came amid skirmish which surely would have been a line brawl 10 years ago.

B次元官网网址淲e were the beneficiary of the scheduling with Alberni (playing their third game in three days),B次元官网网址 Bestwick said. B次元官网网址淏ut Penticton came in here the day before and there was no benefits or disadvantages to either team.B次元官网网址





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