Scott Conway hit the 50-goal plateau against The Victoria Grizzlies Thursday, but his milestone goal won’t be the only thing the game will be remembered for. Penticton, at one point down five goals, fashioned together an improbable 7-5 come from behind win Thursday night at the Q Centre.
Assistant Coach Nick Fuher on the come from behind win
Conway not only was the first player in franchise history, in the last 16-years to score 50-goals, but he’s the first in nearly six years to hit 100 points too. Luke Voltin also scored twice, and the Vees got others from Dixon Bowen, Mitch Brooks and Owen Sillinger.
Brayden Gelsinger scored twice for the Grizz who wore red retro “Victoria Salsa” jerseys for the game but it didn’t help, late anyways, as they were handed their third straight loss.
It was a wild night at the Q, as the two teams combined for 12 goals and all four goalies saw action in the game. It started off with a bang for the Penticton, as Bowen scored less than three-minutes into the first.
Bowen, who was making his debut as a defenseman, scored a hard knuckler from the blue-line that rattled its way into the net at 2:47; Bowen scoring on his very first shift as a defenseman too,.
Victoria turned the tables however, and midway through the period they got two quick ones by Anthony Brodeur to get out ahead. First, Gelsinger, the team’s leading point man, kept the puck on a three-on-two rush and snapped a shot over Anthony Brodeur’s blocker at 6:02. Then, after a frantic scramble around the net, Braeden Cross tucked in a loose puck at the far-side of the goal at 9:44
The Grizzlies busted the game open late in the second, scoring three in fewer than two minutes. It all started with Gelsinger, again, capitalizing on a turnover in the Vees zone to make it 3-1 at 15:56. With the crowd still buzzing about that marker, Cole Pickup was at the right place, at the right time, scoring on a rebound at the side of the net at 16:40. The Grizz continued to ride the wave of momentum, as Alex Peck muscled a puck over the goal-line from inside the crease at 17:50; when the dust settled, the Grizz stung the Vees for three goals in just one minute and 54-seconds.
Brodeur was replaced by Zach Driscoll after the fifth goal by Victoria.
Demico Hannoun stopped the bleeding late in the middle stanza, blasting a rocket into the top corner on a Vees power-play at 18:59; Penticton was staring at a three-goal hole going into the final 20-minutes.
The game turned on its ear early in the third, as the penalty-kill ignited the comeback. Penticton was not only down 5-2 at the start of the third but they had to begin the frame on a five-on-three penalty-kill for 80-seconds. After the initial penalty five-on-three expired, Luke Voltin, fresh from stepping out of the penalty-box, scored from the left-wing circle at 1:28 to close the deficit to two; the first of two shorties in the third.
The comeback was on from there, as Bowen created more offense from the blue-line. On a Vees man-advantage, Bowen’s point shot got its way through bodies in front, slowly trickling just far enough over the goal-line to make it count down the deficit to one at 7:45.
As the saying goes, “Put the puck net and good things will happen,” and that was ever the case with the tying goal. Sillinger darted down the wing, stopped up on the left-wing wall, before firing a seeing-eye dart to the opposite corner at 9:29.
Like Brodeur, Galajda’s night was done after the tying-goal, as Mitchel Benson came in relief.
The Vees didn’t let their foot off the gas in the third and their hard work was rewarded by two more goals. Mitch Brooks scored what turned out to be the game-winner at 11:06, after he finished off a great pass from behind the net from Nic Jones.
Conway’s 50th goal came when the Grizzlies, who were on a power-play and had pulled the goalie to make room for one more shooter. With time winding down, Conway took the puck around his goal, curled out on the far-side, and fired down his 50th goal into an open net at the other end at 18:59.; that goal was also his 100th point.
Final Score: 7-5 Vees
Shots: 40-28 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 2-5 Victoria 0-5
Three Stars: 1) Owen Sillinger 2) Brayden Gelsinger 3) Dixon Bowen
Conway not only scored 50 but in his 47th game but he also became the 38th player in franchise history to score 100 points. Sillinger finished a team-best three points in the win and the Vees improved their record to 7-0-1-0 against the Island Division.
Penticton (42-6-1-0) looks for their fourth straight win tomorrow in Nanaimo to face the Clippers at 7 pm; Friday’s game is a rematch of last season’s Fred Page Cup Final, and will also feature two 50-goal scorers in Conway and Nanaimo’s Sheldon Rempal.
Fans can listen to the game on EZ Rock AM 800, or online at www.penticton.myezrock.com
