OLDS — The Olds Grizzlys head out at the end of this week for a two-day road trip.
They face off against the Xtreme in Devon on Friday, Jan. 10, then head to Whitecourt to take on the Wolverines the next night.
Their next home game is Friday, Jan. 17, when they welcome the Drumheller Dragons to the Sportsplex.
The Grizzlys lost a heartbreaker at home Tuesday, Jan. 7, when they were edged 3-2 in overtime by the Drayton Valley Thunder.
On Tuesday night, there was no scoring in the first period.
The Grizzlys opened the scoring at 5:14 of the second period when Braeden Veldhuizen scored his ninth goal of the season, assisted by Aidyn Law.
The Thunder tied it up just over two minutes later, but the Quinn Abbot restored the Grizzlys’ one-goal lead right near the end of the period with his first goal of the season at the 19:53 mark, assisted by Bailey Shortall.
The Thunder scored the only goal of the third period at 2:05.
A Thunder goal at 1:04 of overtime ended the game.
Unfortunately, Abbott fell down during a Thunder chance in the slot area.
Grizzlys head coach Brad Tobin says that gave Thunder forward Matthias Bessey an opportunity for a “quick shot” on Grizzlys goaltender Ben Dardis.
Tobin described that incident as "tough" for Abbott, given the fact he scored his first goal of the season in the same game.
Dardis went the distance in net for the Grizzlys, stopping 37 of 40 shots he faced. Thunder goalie Hudson Perry stopped 35 of 37 Grizzlys shots on goal.
The Grizzlys were blanked in three powerplay opportunities. The Thunder were one for three with the man advantage.
As they prepare for the upcoming road trip, Tobin has some advice for his team.
“(We’ve) just got to keep playing the same way,” he wrote in a text. "We’ve had scoring opportunities but haven’t had the bounces go our way.
“But it’s good to see us come out of the break with five of six points.”
