The Olds Grizzlys came home with a split from their first round Alberta Junior Hockey League playoff series with the Calgary Mustangs on the weekend, thanks to a 6-3 victory at the Father David Bauer Arena on Saturday.
The Grizzlys lost a tough 4-3 game in overtime Thursday to open the series.
"We played extremely hard. I thought we showed a lot of resiliency (Saturday) coming back three times in that game, down by one goal. Overall I thought the guys worked extremely hard,î Brett Hopfe, the Grizzlys' head coach, said.
Hopfe said the power play proved to be the difference on Saturday, with the Grizzlys going four for nine and the Mustangs three for six.
"Calgary was capitalizing on their power-play chances and we need to capitalize on ours. I thought we did a very good job of spreading out their box Ö and finding open guys Ö (and) it worked out for us,î he said.
The two teams traded goals with the score even at 3-3 going into the third period. All the goals to that point in the game except for Spencer Dorowicz's 3-3 goal came on the power play. In the third, the Grizzlys sealed the victory with a pair of power-play goals from Mitch Owsley and an empty-netter by Tanner Sather with 11 seconds left in the game.
Owsley topped all skaters with two goals and two assists. Bart Moran also added two goals and one assist for the Grizzlys. Hopfe said the team expects a lot from Moran, Dylan Hubbs and Owsley to try to get some secondary scoring.
"They battled extremely hard. I think they complement each other very well,î he said.
In the overtime loss on Thursday, Hopfe said he thought the Grizzlys outplayed the Mustangs throughout the game.
"It was a tough loss especially since I thought we outplayed them that entire game. Even when we were up 3-1 and gave up two quick goals. The goals that we gave up were bounces that just ended up on their stick and in the back of our net. I didn't feel like the guys gave up. I felt like they worked extremely hard that entire game and they just carried that on into Saturday afternoon's game,î he said.
The two teams were to hook up for Game 3 on Monday at the Olds Sports Complex.
"I thought we showed a lot of resiliency (Saturday) coming back three times in that game, down by one goal."Brett Hopfe, head coach, Olds Grizzlys
