First Minute Stumbles plague Storm: Drop 2nd to Grizzlies In Birks Division Final
REVELSTOKE, BC—There’s an old philosophy that says you should start and end each period strong. For the second night in a row, the Kamloops Storm gave up a goal in the first minute of a period and wound up losing.
Saturday (Mar 9), The Storm gave up a goal in the first minute of the second and third periods and fell 5-2 to the host Revelstoke Grizzlies. As a result, Kamloops trails 2-0 in their best of seven Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Doug Birks division final.
Revelstoke, who scored five unanswered goals in a 5-3 opening series win on Friday (Mar 8), scored three straight to erase a 1-0 Kamloops lead. The Storm had led 1-0 after one on a Braycen Dube (Cranbrook, BC) power play goal.
Ethan Coventry (Calgary, AB) scored a minute into the second period for his sixth of the postseason for the Grizzlies. Colton McLeod (Whistler, BC) then added a pair of goals in the first four minutes of the third period to give Revelstoke a 3-1 lead. Dube replied with his second of the night and fifth of the postseason at 5:46.
In the last minute of the third, Kamloops pulled goaltender Colton Phillips-Watts (Quesnel, BC) which resulted in Revelstoke adding two more goals: Coventry scoring both to give him his second straight hat trick and eight goals in the playoffs.
Revelstoke outshot Kamloops 38-22 including 14-6 in the first period and 17-8 in the third frame. Kamloops was 1-2 on the power play while the Grizzlies were 0-2. Jozef Kuchaslo (Mission, BC) notched his second straight win and fifth of the playoffs.
The Storm made one roster adjustment for game two: inserting overage defenseman Devin Benson (Kamloops, BC) and sitting rearguard John Spraggs (Vernon, BC). Revelstoke dressed defenseman Jackson Romeril (Calgary, AB) and forwards Nicholas Buckley (Calgary, AB) and Kuy Schmirler (Calgary, AB) . Forwards Prezton Stewart (West Kelowna, BC) , Jake Neufeld (Calgary, AB) and defenseman Diego Smith (Brandon, ON) were scratched.
Games three and four of the series will be held at Mac Isle’s Olympic Ice Surface in Kamloops, BC on Monday, and Tuesday (Mar 11-12). Opening face-off will be 7 PM PST. You can watch the games on a pay-per-view basis on FloHockeyTV.
