OLDS — The Olds Grizzlys host the Camrose Kodiaks tonight (Jan. 21) at the Sportsplex after a weekend that didn’t go quite as they might have hoped.
After that, they head up to Fort McMurray for a two-game roadie against the Oil Barons Jan. 25 and 26.
The Grizzlys were beaten 4-1 by the Drumheller Dragons Friday, Jan. 17 at home, then were doubled 6-3 by the Thunder in Drayton Valley.
On Friday night, Hunter Motley got the lone goal for the Grizzlys at 2:36 of the first period, his fifth of the season, assisted by Aiden Knutson and Nolan Viesner. Motley fired the puck home while down on one knee.
The crowd, one of the biggest of the season, roared when Grizzly Lucas Schaefer and Dragon Nick McLennan got into a fight at 7:51 of the first period. Both received fighting majors and game misconducts.
If anything, that seemed to fire up the Dragons, who scored four goals in the second period.
There was no scoring by either team in the third period.
Ben Dardis was in net the entire game for the Grizzlys, stopping 40 of 44 pucks fired his way. Dragons goaltender Sean Cootes stopped 19 of 20 Grizzlys shots on goal.
The Grizzlys were zero for one on the powerplay. The Dragons were zero for four with the man advantage.
On Saturday night, the Thunder jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, scoring goals at 9:53 and 12:39 of the first period.
Newly acquired Grizzly Johnny Maruna got his first goal as a Grizzly at 16:27 of that same period, assisted by Brayden Schwartz and Jonathan Doucette.
At 4:23 of the second period, Bailey Shortall evened the score at 2-2 with his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Schaefer.
However, the Thunder scored two more in that period to take a 4-2 lead.
At 5:15 of the third period, Schaefer scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Jaxon Doyle and Doucette to narrow the gap to 4-3.
But the Thunder scored two more in that period for the win.
Dardis was in net for the Grizzlys again, stopping 38 of 44 shots on goal. The Grizzlys only managed to fire 15 shots at Thunder goaltender Nicholas Cristiano.
The Grizzlys were one for six with the man advantage. The Thunder were two for nine.
Grizzlys head coach Brad Tobin was asked what the team needs to do to win Tuesday night and beyond.
“We need to play stronger defensively in our own zone,” he said in a text. “Too many times we lost puck battles that turned into sustained pressure by the opposition.
“We weren’t executing in the offensive zone and kept giving up shooting opportunities for that one extra pass.”
