Two days after being dominated by the Nanaimo Clippers to the tune of 10-3, the Comox Valley Glacier Kings delighted their hometown fans by handing the Campbell River Storm a 4-1 setback.
It was definitely a seesaw start to the December portion of the Yetis’ Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League season as they recovered from one of their worst losses of the year on Dec. 1 to post one of their most impressive wins of the season on Dec. 3.
While the second-place Icemen still trail the North Island and league leading Storm by 12 points, the third-place Bucs are now just two back of G-Kings, setting the stage for what should be an entertaining stretch run.
Saturday night in Courtenay, the Icemen led 1-0 after one on second star Scott Rademaker’s goal just 43 seconds into the game. Second star Jake McKenzie’s power-play goal at 8:32 made it 2-0 after two, and Rademaker’s second of the game early in the third put the Icemen up 3-0.
Mitchell Williams got one back for C.R. on the power play at 8:58 only to have Brayden Durante net his first goal as a Yeti on the power play at 11:40 to seal the deal. Durante was one of two new additions to the lineup, the other being Aidan Bate-Smith. Also adding spark was A/P Scott Arbuckle.
While the trio’s presence was a contributing factor in the win, a G-Kings’ spokesperson noted this game was the Marcus Gloss show as the game’s first star had many excellent saves. Final shots on goal were 27-27.
The spokesperson noted the paperwork is being finalized for the Yetis to welcome Derrick Smith back from the Jr. A Trail Smoke Eaters in time for this Saturday’s home game against Kerry Park Islanders.
As good as Saturday’s performance was, that’s how bad Thursday’s outing in Nanaimo was. After the teams were tied 2-2 at 7:24 of the first frame, the Bucs reeled off eight unanswered goals to win going away. They led 7-2 after two.
Caleb Dolman tallied twice for the visitors with McKenzie netting the other Comox Valley goal.
Nanaimo outshot the G-Kings 40-30 with Gloss taking the loss, making 16 saves on 22 shots in 34:39 minutes before giving way to William Cawthorn (14 saves on 18 shots in 25:21 minutes).
The Glacier Kings visit the Westshore Wolves this Wednesday, Dec. 7 then have a busy weekend. They host the Islanders at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 at SC#1 then visit the Oceanside Generals for a Dec. 11 matinee in Parksville.