The Victoria Grizzlies season ended Tuesday Night as they were defeated by the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 3-2 in front of a sparse crowd at the Q Centre. The Silverbacks swept the Grizzlies in their opening round playoff series four games to none and now advance to play the winner of the Wenatchee and Vernon matchup.
The Grizzlies started strong and held a 1-0 lead with a goal by Henri Schreifels but the Silver Backs tied the game when Luke Mylymok scored with only three seconds left in the first period.
Kieran Rushcheinski of the Silverbacks scored the eventual game winning goal in the third period on a controversial play that I have never seen before. Rushcheinski crashed the net and was credited with the goal but given a goaltender interference penalty on the same play.
On the subsequent power play, Marty Westhaver scored to make it 3-2 ( video below).
The Grizzlies followed the Westhaver goal with a strong attack but could not score the equalizer as the Silverbacks went on to win their first playoff series since 2011.