The start of a new year is often when teams look to clean the slate.
The Grandview Steelers are hoping 2018 will see more consistent results as they prepare for the playoffs.
Exiting the Pacific Junior B Hockey League’s holiday layoff, the Steelers mustered their first win of the year on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over the Mission City Outlaws.
A pair of goals from rookie Emerson Kostner, including the game-winner at 14:42 into the second period, propelled the Burnaby-based team to its first win in nearly a month. It ended a five-game losing skid, which included last Thursday’s 3-1 setback to the Richmond Sockeyes.
“We played very tenaciously and finished a lot of our checks,” remarked head coach Stevan Matic on the win over Mission. “We played with some urgency and were more efficient in generating offence.”
Grandview actually trailed early, as the Outlaws lashed out to a 1-0 lead at the 51 second mark. While Kostner tied it, Mission again jumped ahead 1:51 into the second period. But the Steelers stuck to their game plan of driving the puck deep, with Mateo Coltellaro cashing in a powerplay chance to make it 2-2.
Kostner broke the tie, and Grandview grabbed a 4-2 lead on Brodie Crawford’s powerplay tally before the end of the middle period.
In the third, Cale Dolan turned back all nine shots and finished a perfect 12-for-12 after replacing Matteo Petrelli after Mission’s second goal.
Richmond built up a 2-0 lead, on tallies from ex-Grandview players Nicolas Bizzutto and Braeden Gurney, before the game was 1:30 old and staved off the Steelers, who got its goal from Tomislav Zlomislic.
The loss continued a slide that began on Dec. 10, the last time the two teams crossed paths. Since that time, Grandview has fallen out of second spot in the Tom Shaw Conference, and currently trail Richmond and North Van, who are tied for second, by eight points with a 19-12-1-2 record.
“We’ve gone on runs and won and had runs of losing, so we have to find a way to compete with (the likes of first-place Delta and Richmond),” said Matic.
“We have a tough stretch of games ahead of us and if we’re not thinking defence first against teams that average four, five goals a game we’ll struggle.”
League-leading Delta, who is an imposing 30-2-0 on the season, presents the next challenge (Sunday, 7:15 p.m. at the Burnaby Winter Club). Matic said the key will be to not sitting back but being aggressive on the puck and pushing the play.
“Against Delta, you have to be able to match their speed and battle for possession. We have to get pucks in deep and force them to play a complete 200-foot game,” he said.
Matic said general manager Aldo Bruno may use the Jan. 10 roster deadline to address some on-ice needs, but had no advance tip on whether or not something was imminent.
“We’re always looking at ways to improve,” he said. “Every team is looking to make their lineup better, so it always depends upon the right deal.”
