VIJHL Game Summary 14.2.25
Port Alberni 9 Saanich 5
Grayson Salmon fired four goals and was named first star of the Port Alberni Bombers’ 9-5 defeat of the Saanich Predators in Friday night VIJHL play at George Pearkes Arena.
After a 2-2 first period tie, Port Alberni flew out to a 6-4 lead after two frames, with their other goals coming from Zach Spafford, who also added two assists and was named third star, Sam Davidson, Kenneth Boychuk, Jack Barrett and McCall Nault, with Tom Forrest earning the win in goal with 18 saves. Port Alberni has 58 points on a 27-13-4 record, and sits five points back of North Division leading Campbell River with four games to play.
Second star Von Parsons with two, and third star William Jenkins, Bryce Kohler and Maxime Simard with one apiece scored for Saanich (10-32-3), with netminder Asher Uniat finishing with 48 saves.
Victoria 3 Lake Cowichan 2
A pair of third period goals lifted the Victoria Cougars to a 3-2 edging of the Lake Cowichan Kraken at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena.
Carter Zeeben, Mathieu Sauve and Anthony Wilson were the Cougars marksmen, as the teams were tied 1-1 after the first and second stanzas. Ryder Lally had 32 stops for the win in goal.
Cooper Barclay and Drury Lamb scored for Lake Cowichan (19-22-3-1), which has officially made the playoffs and stands third in the North with 42 points, one point ahead of Comox Valley. Tanner Ferrill made 29 saves in the Kraken cage.
Victoria (23-15-6) has 52 points and stands a mathematical chance of catching Westshore for third place in the south, with the Wolves 6 points ahead with each team having four games left.
Comox Valley 0 Peninsula 4
Goalie Hunter Farrer had a 34 save shutout in his first game with the Peninsula Panthers and was named first star, leading the hosts to a 4-0 blanking of the Comox Valley Glacier Kings in front of 190 spectators at Panorama Recreation Center.
Peninsula (31-11-2-1) has 65 points in second place in the South, but cannot catch the Kerry Park Islanders, who have clinched first place in the Division and the entire VIJHL with 72 points. Second star Zach Holeschek, Oskar Aitken Salmons, Kenyan Price and Risto Ringma had the goals for the Panthers, with Brendan Williams being named the third star for the winners, who led 1-0 and 3-0 by periods.
Comox Valley (19-22-3) had 45 saves from netminder Luca Vanzo, and is in fourth place in the North with 41 points, five up on Nanaimo. Any combination of a Buccaneers loss or a Comox Valley win puts the Glacier Kings into the playoffs.
Nanaimo 7 Campbell River 0
Nanaimo Buccaneers kept their slim playoff hopes alive thanks to a 30 save shutout by first star Darian Feser as the Buccaneers blanked the hometown Campbell River Storm 7-0 in front of 432 people at Rod Brind’Amour Arena.
Second star Elias Schellander, third star Ben Walker, Cowyn Loney, Elias Byrtus, Quintus Mah, Davis Young and Baden Pazdzierski were the goal scorers for Nanaimo, which led 3-0 and 7-0 by frame.
Kaeden Serpa and Miko Duplain combined for 27 stops in net for Campbell River (29-10-5) for 63 points to lead the North, five points ahead of Port Alberni, with both teams having four games remaining in the regular season.