Ellis Rickwood, with his sixth goal of the season, at 18:12 of the third period gave the Victoria Grizzlies (2-1) a dramatic 4-3 B.C. Hockey League victory over the host Alberni Valley Bulldogs (1-1-1) on Monday night at Weyerhaeuser Arena.
Rickwood, on the watch list for the 2021 NHL draft, earlier in the day was named BCHL player of the week for his five goals in the Grizzlies鈥� first two games.
Henri Schreifels, with his fourth of the season, Isack Bandu and Reid Lindsay also scored for Victoria. Alex DiPaolo of the Grizzlies had two assists to be named first star, with Lindsay second star and Alberni Valley goaltender Luke Pearson third star for his 32 saves. Justin Easter made 24 saves in goal for the Grizzlies. Brandon Buhr, Adam Jeffery and Stephen Castagna scored for the Bulldogs.
The difference was special teams as the Grizzlies went 2-5 on the power play and Alberni Valley 0-2.
Each BCHL Island Division team is playing 20 games, all without fans at Weyerhaeuser Arena, in the pandemic-abbreviated season.
The Nanaimo Clippers (2-0) meets the Cowichan Valley Capitals (0-1-1) tonight and Victoria plays the Capitals on Wednesday.