With practise comes perfomance.
Perfection will come, hopefully, sooner than later.
The Grandview Steelers delivered a solid effort Sunday but needed two late goals to emerge with a 3-1 victory over the Surrey Knights at the Burnaby Winter Club.
Buoyed by two rookies cashing in their first goals in the Pacific Junior Hockey League, Grandview collected its first win of 2017/18 and sits 1-1 after the first week of action.
Emerson Kostner’s tally six minutes into the game, and just a handful of seconds after the team successfully killed off a penalty, gave the hosts a 1-0 lead.
It would last through a scoreless second period, before Surrey tied it up midway through the third.
Another first-year Grandview player, William Hazell-Penaluna, broke the stalemate with 3:47 remaining in the third, on assists from Devan Purhar and Anthony Belevoli.
A product of hard work and persistence, the game-winning goal beat Surrey’s Zakery Babin, who was the main roadblock all game.
The Steelers fired 44 shots at the Knights net, including 36 over the final 40 minutes.
There were a few tense moments as the clock wound down, but veteran Jeffrey Wong squelched any comeback attempt from Surrey with an empty-netter with 33 seconds remaining.
“It was a little stressful but we found a way to win it,” remarked Grandview head coach Stevan Matic. “I was pleased with our performance, that we forechecked well and created a lot of scoring chances.”
The Steelers lineup featured seven rookies, and is currently backstopped by a pair of first-year junior netminders in Naveen Kainth, who picked up the win on Sunday, and Matteo Petrelli.
Last year’s starter, Matteo Paler-Chow, signed with Powell River of the B.C. Hockey League, while Cale Dolan, who posted an impressive 7-0 record behind a 0.90 goals-against average, was pushing for a spot with Yorkton of the Saskatchewan Junior A Hockey League.
In the first two games, the newcomers have done their part, Matic said. It’s the veterans who are slowly adjusting to their new roles and a return to junior B.
“I think they’re still settling in. We expect a lot from our veterans, and there’s some players still adjusting to new lines and new roles,” he said.
It’s a three-game week for Grandview, who played Delta last night (past the NOW’s deadline), visit North Van on Saturday, and host Ridge Meadows on Sunday, 7:15 p.m. at BWC.
