The Nanaimo Buccaneers scored three goals in the second period and held on for a 4-3 win over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. The loss is the Glacier Kings second in a row and 3rd in their last 4 games while the Buccaneers won their 3rd straight and are now victorious in 5 of their last 6 contests.

It was a very even opening period which saw Nanaimo having a nice power play and with the Glacier Kings had big chances by Ethan Gobel and Westin Churchill. However it took almost 17 minutes before the first goal. Brandon Taylor took a shot from the point. It appeared that Westin Churchill may have got a stick on it to deflect it high in the air. The puck landed behind goaltender Aaron Pichette where Gavin Munro poked it into the net.

The lead wouldn’t last long. Less than 2 minutes later Jaxin Karst won an offensive zone faceoff. The puck would get tipped back to Dreyton Hayward at the blue line. The 5’9″ defenceman wristed a shot that went through a maze of bodies to beat Anthony Ganoung blocker side.

That goal made the score 1-1 and the period would end with that score. Shots were 11-7 in favor of Nanaimo.

In the second period, the Buccaneers would take their first lead of the game on an innocent looking play. Zach Spafford gave a 10 foot pass up to his own blue to Jack Barrett and by the time he got to center he skated between both defencemen to go in on a clear cut breakaway. Barrett quickly went backhand-forehand and beat Ganoung stick-side before the second period was three minutes old.

The Bucs made it 3-1 on a power play goal. Jaxin Karst won the faceoff and the puck subsequently never left the Glacier Kings zone after that. Madden Cruickshank eventually took a shot-pass to the side of the net where Porter Williamson deflected it behind the goalie.

Davis Young made it 4-1 with less than a minute to play in the 2nd period as he crept in from the blue line undetected and took a rink wide pass from Jaxin Karst and one-timed it between the arm and body of Ganoung.

The middle frame ended 4-1. Nanaimo outshot Comox 10-9.

Curtis Toneff must have fired the team up during the intermission because the Glacier Kings started off fast. After Nanaimo won the opening faceoff into their own zone, Comox Valley forechecked hard and Kyle Mayenburg did a good job keeping the puck in at the blue line. He directed the puck towards the net and a scramble ensued. Cameron Collins found a loose puck among the bodies and buried it past Pichette to make it 4-2.

That goal took 16 seconds from the drop of the puck. Unfortunately, the Yeti never got any momentum after that goal as Nanaimo tilted the ice afterwards dominating the play. However late in the 3rd period after Comox took a penalty, you could see that they were thinking offence. Cohen Kallin poked the puck off a Nanaimo stick at the Glacier Kings blue line then passed it up to Isaac Dunsire for a 2-man breakaway from center ice. Dunsire went in and snapped the puck past Pichette on the glove side for a shorthanded goal and it was suddenly 4-3.

Unfortunately the Yeti would take another penalty for “Too Many Men On The Ice” when they had possession inside the offensive zone with 19 seconds left. I’m guessing it was a good call because you could see the crowd and the Buccaneers bench pointing and yelling for a penalty. Pichette made a big save with 4 seconds left and that’s the way the game would end. Shots were 11-7 for the Bucs.

The win improves Nanaimo’s record to 11-5-1-0 for 23 points and are 3 points ahead of 2nd place Oceanside. Comox Valley drops to 7-9-2-1 for 17 points and remains in 4th place in the North. They will host the Oceanside Generals Saturday night. The Bucs are in Victoria on Sunday.

Other Observations:

• Jaxin Karst had 3 assists to extend his point streak to 5 games (3G, 6A)
• It took the Bucs 11 seconds to score their PP goal in the 2nd period after an offensive zone “Holding The Stick” penalty against the GKings.
• Leon Mikhalchuk has 5G, 3A in his last 8 games.
• The Yeti have only drawn 2 power plays in their last 200 minutes of hockey.
• That was Gavin Munro’s first goal as a GKings player since coming over from Nanaimo. After his goal he pointed up to the stands at the NIC.
• It was nice to see former Buc Brandon Taylor stick up for Thomas Scobie-Gyug after he got hit from behind. He went after the much bigger Rhys Wilcox who is 4″ taller and and 50 pounds heavier. He simply pushed him before getting into a scrum with Koen Gauthier where Taylor got his helmet taken off. I didn’t love that the referee making it a 4 on 4 instead of a PP for Comox.

• Despite being outscored 3-0 in the second period, I thought it was a very even period. With that being said, I thought Nanaimo outplayed Comox in the 3rd despite being outscored 2-0.
• Cameron Collins has 1G, 4A in his last 5 games.
• Brandon Taylor picked up his first assist as a Glacier King with an assist.
• The Yeti are 1-7-1-1 when trailing after the second period.
• It is so refreshing to listen to Larenzo Jensen do play by play, a true professional, not biased, very descriptive. Good job Larenzo!

Darryl Skender