The Comox Valley Glacier Kings stepped off their team bus and onto a roller coaster Nov. 8 when they travelled to Nanaimo to take on the Buccaneers.
It was a game of ups and downs for the Icemen, who were down 1-0 after one period and up 3-1 after two before ultimately falling 5-3.
It was the second straight loss for the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League North Division leaders, who also played Westshore Wolves on Nov. 9 and Campbell River Storm on Nov. 11. Due to advanced Remembrance Day weekend deadlines, results of those two games were unavailable at press time.
Last Thursday night at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, the Bucs netted the only goal of the first period when Garrett Dunlop lit the lamp behind goalie Josh Round at the 18:37 mark.
Rookie Calvin Hadley's third goal of the year pulled the Yetis even at 2:20 of the second, and 29 seconds later Mitch Ball's 13th of the campaign put the visitors up 2-1.
Jordan Crisp beat former Glacier King goalie Cameron Large for his second of the year to put Comox Valley up 3-1 at the 15:57 mark.
But Large was unbeatable the rest of the way, kicking out eight shots in the third period while the Bucs got to Round for three goals in a seven-minute span in the final frame then added an empty netter to seal the deal.
Daniel Foglietta cut the lead to 3-2 at 6:33, Corey Renwick's power-play goal at 9:09 pulled Nanaimo even, then Johnathan Speer potted the winner at 13:21. With just two clicks left on the clock, game first star Renwick had 24 square feet of untended net to deposit his second goal of the game into.
Nanaimo outshot Comox Valley 32-27 and went 1-for-3 with the man advantage while the Glacier Kings went 0-for-4. Derian Hamilton (2a) of the Bucs was the second star and Ball (1g, 1a) was the third star.
The Yetis' busy November schedule continues this week with three games in three days. They are at Peninsula to face the Panthers on Nov. 16, host Kerry Park Islanders (7:30 p.m. Sports Centre #1) on Nov. 17 and visit South Division leading Victoria Cougars on Nov. 18.