It’s a dead heat heading into the final weekend of junior B hockey, but Grandview Steelers head coach Stevan Matic likes his team’s chances.
Although Grandview fell 4-3 on Sunday to the Delta Icehawks, pulling the Icehawks even in the race for the Tom Shaw Conference regular season title, Matic says the effort was there and spirits are high heading into the final three games.
“We had enough chances to tie it, but they just didn’t go our way,” Matic said of the loss on home ice. “Maybe we tried to run-and-gun it a little too much, which is to their advantage. Otherwise, I thought we played well.”
The visiting Hawks took a 2-0 lead into the second period after tallying twice in the span of 57 seconds. They upped their lead to 3-0 early in the second before Adam Rota got the Steelers on the board five minutes into the period.
Jeffrey Wong, who drew an assist on Rota’s tally, cut the deficit to one with a powerplay marker 7:40 into the middle frame, but Delta’s Tetsuya Prior made it 4-2 for the visitors a few minutes later.
The Steelers would again move within a goal, this time thanks to Mario Sever’s marker, but couldn’t bury the equalizer. With the win, Delta pulled into a tie with the Steelers, both with three games left. The Icehawks hold the tie-breaker, having beaten Grandview four times in six meetings.
For Matic, the final three games are must-wins – including a yet-to-be-scheduled make-up match against North Van, cancelled last Saturday due to the snowfall.
“Our home ice is a big advantage for us, so we are focusing on doing what we can do to (win the division),” he said. “Our goal is to pick up six points – that’s all we can control.”
Grandview, at 25-9-2-5 on the year, visits Port Moody on Saturday, and hosts North Vancouver on Sunday, 4 p.m. at the Burnaby Winter Club.
