What looked like certain overtime turned into a shocking loss for the Grandview Steelers last week.
Holding the second-best record in the Pacific Junior Hockey League, the Steelers battled their Tom Shaw Conference rival Delta Icehawks to a 1-1 standstill with just a handful of seconds left on the clock when defenceman Leo Li buried a shot past Grandview netminder Cale Dolan to pull out the win at the Burnaby Winter Club.
"It was a tough loss," reflected Steeler general manager Aldo Bruno. "When you allow a team to score with (four) seconds left it's always tough."
The loss ended a two-game win streak for the squad.
Making it more painful was that the home team thoroughly outplayed Delta, firing 36 shots on goal. But Icehawks goalie Jordy Engelson was in sharp form, stopping all but one.
Bruno also said the powerplay, which was 0-for-4, didn't help matters.
"We needed to put away some of those chances. But Delta's goalie was the difference."
Scoring for Grandview was defenceman Jameson Crawford, who gave the home side a 1-0 lead with five minutes left in the first period on his sixth of the season, from Jack Hamilton.
Delta tied it up just 2:31 later on Bradley Fortin's powerplay tally.
Grandview, which has a tenuous hold on second place, one point ahead of Richmond, with a 19-9-2-2 record, play in Surrey tonight (Thursday), then visit White Rock on Saturday. They return home Sunday to wrap up the pre-Christmas schedule against Ridge Meadows, 7:15 p.m. at the Winter Club.
The team will return to the ice in the New Year for the league's showcase tournament at Richmond's Minoru Arena. There, they'll cross paths with powerhouse North Van, who lead the league (and the Shaw Conference) with a 27-1-0-0 record (10 a.m. on Jan. 4). They'll lace up the skates again on Jan. 5 to play Delta (4 p.m.).
