SECOND PERIOD SURGE KEY AS GRIZZLIES CLAW STEAM

Revelstoke Grizzlies Goaltender Michael Lenko makes a save on Summerland Steam
Defenseman Alex Williams late in Sunday's game at the Summerland Arena
Photo Credit: Sarah Mayer 

It wasn't the result the Summerland Steam wanted from the weekend, but after a 3-2 loss to the Revelstoke Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon they finished the weekend with a 1-1 record and the wonder of what could have been.

After a 3-1 win over the Princeton Posse on Friday night, the Steam took to the ice on Sunday against the Revelstoke Grizzlies with their eyes set on climbing over the Posse in the standings with a win.


Head Coach John Depourcq elected to go with goaltender Alex Kong to start this hockey game, giving Brett Huber a much needed afternoon off after a big win on Friday. Kong was solid in the first period, stopping all 8 shots he faced while the goaltender at the other end, Michael Lenko from Revelstoke did the same. It was a penalty filled frame that saw the Steam kill 3 minor penalties and one major penalty. The major was assessed to Nelson Hurry, who was ejected for kneeing after trying to make a body check on the Grizzlies' Nii Noi Tetteh. Tetteh tried to avoid the contact from Hurry and as he tried to move aside the knees came together, forcing Tetteh to go down with an injury and both young men missing the remainder of the game.

The second period was where all the scoring took place, as Braden Saretsky opened the scoring on a 2-on-0 just 5 minutes into the period. Saretsky picked the puck off a Grizzlies' defender and broke in with Wyatt Gale all alone. They passed the puck back and forth before Saretsky made a sweet move to the backhand and slid the puck into a yawning cage for a 1-0 Summerland lead. The lead, however, would be short lived as Revelstoke's Riley Creighton let a shot go that found it's way off the blocker of Alex Kong and into the back of the net just 31 seconds later.

The Steam would take the lead again on a powerplay a few minutes later as Braden Eliuk found a puck lying loose at the top of the crease and was able to drive it past Lenko to restore the Steam's lead with 8:08 to play in the middle stanza.

Unfortunately for Summerland, that's where the scoring stopped, and for the final 8 minutes of the 2nd period they were under siege from the Grizzlies. Summerland began to have trouble completing passes and found themselves hemmed in their own zone for long stretches at a time. Though not many shots were sent towards the net, one that got there finally beat Kong with 3:18 to play in the period off the stick of Kyle Baron from about 50 feet to tie the game.

The long shot from Baron spelled the end of the night from Alex Kong, as Head Coach John Depourcq must have sensed something and decided to make a change and go to Brett Huber with 3:18 to play in the 2nd period.

The hunch didn't pay off for Depourcq, however, as it would not have mattered who was in the crease when Kenny Batke let a shot go on a powerplay through 8 bodies. The shot beat Huber high over the glove to give the Grizzlies a 3-2 lead after 2 periods.

The Batke goal would end the scoring in this hockey game, but it was not for lack of trying from the Steam in the third period. After a bit of a lapse in the final half of the 2nd, the Steam came out flying in the 3rd. They outshot the Grizzlies 9-1 in the period, but were unsuccessful in getting anything past Michael Lenko, who was phenomenal in the third period to preserve a 3-2 win.

Despite not getting on the scoreboard on this particular afternoon, Jarrett Malchow really stood out for the Summerland Steam with a couple of big hits and a couple of great opportunities around the net as well.


The Steam will now have a week of practice and will take on Golden on Friday night, November 7th at 7:30 at the Summerland Arena. Stay tuned for a preview of that game mid-week, and we hope to see you at the rink or on the webcast on Friday night!