The Cranbrook Bucks hosted the Victoria Grizzlies at Western Financial Place on Saturday night, in the first-ever meeting between the cross-conference BC Hockey League counterparts.
The Grizzlies got off to a hot start on the road, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Olivier Picard at 2:17 and Jacksenn Hungle at 8:29 of the opening period.
It took the Bucks all of 90 seconds to answer Victoria’s 2-0 goal, as Noah Quinn scored his fourth of the season and first of three on the night at 9:59 from Jack Silich and Kellan Hjartarson to make it a 2-1 game.
Quinn added his second goal of the game before the end of the first period to square the contest at 2-2, on a beautiful passing play with Silich and Hjartarson at 18:46.
The Grizzlies outshot Cranbrook 14-11 in an opening period that saw the teams split four goals.
At the 3:09 mark of the second period, Quinn completed the natural hat-trick with his third straight goal of the night, once again assisted by his linemates Silich and Hjartarson.
Victoria was able to get back on even terms at 17:40 of the middle frame when Owen Bohn converted on a powerplay to make it a 3-3 game.
The Bucks would respond less than a minute later when Donovan Frias redirected a Rhys Bentham shot to the back of the net at 18:34 of the second to put the Bucks back in front 4-3.
Cranbrook outshot the Grizzlies 18-9 in the middle frame and took a one-goal advantage into the third period.
The score stayed at 4-3 until the 13:02 mark of the final frame when the Bucks’ captain broke through for his sixth goal of the season.
Bentham’s breakaway beauty was assisted by both Donovan and Julian Frias to give Cranbrook a two-goal lead.
The extra breathing room was short lived, however, as Victoria’s Anthony Carone answered back at the 14-minute mark to get the Grizzlies back within a goal at 5-4.
With the Victoria goalie pulled for an extra attacker in the dying seconds, Silich found the empty net for his team-leading 12th goal of the season and fourth point of the night to seal a 6-4 win for the Bucks.
Quinn’s natural hat-trick and Silich’s four points led the way for the Bucks, while the third member of that line in Hjartarson had three helpers of his own.
Bentham and Donovan Frias each recorded a goal and an assist, while Julian Frias and Jaxon Fuder each added a helper.
Carter Capton made 29 saves on 33 shots for his third win of the season, as Cranbrook outshot the Grizzlies 45-33 in the contest.
The Bucks had 2,605 fans in attendance on Saturday night, which is the second-highest regular season number in team history after the previous home game’s total of 2,633 on Oct. 21.
Cranbrook is back in action this upcoming weekend, hosting the Merritt Centennials and Wenatchee Wild on Friday and Saturday at Western Financial Place.
The boxscore from Saturday’s game can be viewed here courtesy the BCHL website, and a game recap from the Bucks’ website is here.
Game highlights can also be viewed below, courtesy of Cranbrook’s YouTube.
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