Victoria 5 Nanaimo 4
A pair of third period goals enabled the defending VIJHL champion Victoria Cougars to edge the Nanaimo Buccaneers Friday night in a rematch of last season’s playoff final in front of 260 fans at Nanaimo Ice Centre.
Following a 2-2 first period tie, Nanaimo led 4-3 heading into the third period in the battle between the league’s division leaders. First star Carter Zeeben’s goal halfway through the final period became the winner. Second star Avery Lowe had a pair of goals and singles came from Dalton Toma and Luke Reinhart, with Armaan Kaila earning the win in goal with 23 saves.
Third star Colby Monette, Jack Barrett, Jacob McKinnon and Owen Hyde had the Bucs goals, and netminder Carter Puska finished with 32 stops.
Comox Valley 4 Lake Cowichan 2
A pair of tallies from first star Leon Mikhalchuk helped the Comox Valley Glacier Kings freeze the Lake Cowichan Kraken 4-2 at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena.
Maxim Lefebvre and Westin Churchill had the other goals for the Glacier Kings, which held 2-0 and 3-2 period leads and received 30 saves from second star Ander Reyes.
Third star Avraham Brown had both goals for the Kraken, with goalie Caleb Boileau stopping 35 pucks in the contest.
Kerry Park @ Campbell River
Game suspended due to rink glass malfunction, to be replayed at a later date.
