The Olds Grizzlys entered tonight's scheduled game against the Calgary Mustangs at the Father David Bauer Arena with a modest three-game winning streak after victories over the Drumheller Dragons on Wednesday, Canmore Eagles on Friday and Okotoks Oilers on Saturday. The Grizzlys beat their Alberta Junior Hockey League competition by scores of 5-1, 5-2 and 4-3 respectively.
The team's lone loss last week came at the hands of the Sherwood Park Crusaders when it travelled north and lost 5-2 last Tuesday.
Tanner Dunkle provided the game-winning goal on Saturday at the Olds Sports Complex in the shootout, moments before Grizzlys' goaltender Brandon Thiessen made his biggest stop of the night on Greg Lamoureux to seal the victory. The save on Lamoureux was one of 37 Thiessen made to keep the winning streak going.
Following the game, Dunkle, who leads the Grizzlys in scoring this year (21 goals, 15 assists), said as he was coming in on Okotoks' netminder Jared D'Amico, he had to change tactics.
"I came down on the right side there and looked for low net but I didn't see it, so I just fired a low hard shot through his five-hole and (it) just managed to squeak through,卯 he said.
The game Saturday featured close checking throughout, with neither team managing many scoring opportunities. After goals by Dylan Hubbs, Tanner Sather and a short-handed unassisted goal by Bart Moran put the Grizzlys up 3-1 midway through the second period, the Oilers came back on a power-play marker by Tyler Krause to leave the visitors in a one-goal deficit after two periods. Robbie Fisher scored early in the third period to knot the game at 3-3.
Brett Hopfe, the Grizzlys interim head coach, said Saturday's contest was a grinding game, but the team managed to persevere despite the players having progressively less energy after four games in five days.
"I think we deserved to win that game overall. The guys battled hard and they sacrificed their body and I'm proud of them. (Dunkle) has been one of our (key) guys for the last three games here. I put him out there (in the shootout) because he's the leading scorer on our team 脰 I figured we'd put him out there and he came through for us,卯 he said.
Hopfe said during the winning streak, the players paid attention to small details that help win games.
"We stressed earlier on in the year here and earlier on (last) week that if we do the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. Guys are sacrificing for the team and learning that it's a lot more fun to win than it is to lose,卯 he said.
Dunkle said the key to last week's winning streak was not taking as many penalties and buying into more of a team concept.
"I think staying out of the box is a big key for us. Also, I think we're playing together as a team 脰 and we're battling harder and we want it more,卯 he said.
"I came down on the right side there and looked for low net but I didn't see it, so I just fired a low hard shot through his five-hole and (it) just managed to squeak through."TannerDunkle, scored shoot-out game winner for the Olds Grizzlys Saturday
