Nanaimo 5 Saanich 2
First star Jaxin Karst fired a hat trick to lead the Nanaimo Buccaneers to a 5-2 victory over the Saanich Predators in VIJHL play Friday night in front of 110 fans at George Pearkes Arena.
Nanaimo (20-9-1 for 41 points) led 2-0 and 4-1 by periods and also had goals from second star Casey Rutland and Dylan Lazaroff, with goalie Aaron Pichette earning the win with 20 saves.
Third star Von Parsons and Tavery Lavender had the markers for Saanich (7-23 for 14 points), with netminders Asher Uniat and George Jantz combining for 39 stops.
Campbell River 3 Lake Cowichan 2
Campbell River Storm led all the way, holding 2-1 and 3-1 period leads to submerge the Lake Cowichan Kraken 3-2 at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena.
Noah Spencer, Jack Smith and Dylan Toth were the snipers for the Storm (13-16-1 for 27 points), with Elliott Turgeon chipping in two helpers in a second star effort, and third star Luc Gravel blocking 16 pucks in the contest.
Lake Cowichan (8-18-1-1 for 18 points) had their markers from Addison Bradley and Toby Johnson, and Evgeni Tkachenko was brilliant in the Kraken cage with 48 stops to earn first star recognition.
Oceanside 4 Peninsula 1
First star goalie Ethan Suhr made 44 saves and second star Max Boyle had two goals as the Oceanside Generals handed the Peninsula Panthers only their second regulation loss of the season in a 4-1 decision watched by 218 fans who took in the contest between the Division leaders at the Panorama Recreation Centre.
Oceanside (21-9-1 for 43 points, first in the North) never trailed, leading 1-0 and 3-0 by periods with their other goals coming from Lachlan Sucher and Luka Ouimette, while Kaiden Day added two assists to earn third star honours.
South Division leading Peninsula (26-2-1 for 53 points) had their only goal from Luke Christensen and Matus Volovar blocked 22 shots between the Panthers pipes.
Victoria 4 Westshore 2
Victoria Cougars opened up a 3-0 lead and hung on to down the Westshore Wolves 4-2 with 176 taking in the action at the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre.
First star Ben Wetterberg, league leading scorer Joseph Melichar, Brandon Smith and Austin Ralph tallied for Victoria (21-7-3 for 45 points), which climbed to within two points of second place Westshore (22-6-3 for 47 points) in the South, while leading 2-0 and 3-1 by periods. Third star of the tilt was Victoria backstop Jesse Pye, who finished with 37 saves.
Xavier Barthe and Parker Atkinson dented the twine for the Wolves, with second star Kansys Seney adding a pair of helpers. Ander Reyes and James Hall combined for 25 saves.
