Earle Couper
Record Staff
They may or may not need to pack snow shovels to help get the team bus over the Malahat, but the Comox Valley Glacier Kings won’t be heading south Monday night without a broom.
The North Division champion Icemen are taking a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League opening round playoff series against South Island #5 Saanich Braves into George Pearkes Arena on Feb. 24 and looking for a win to advance to the second round against the Peninsula Panthers (S2).
After taking the opener in their series with the Braves 4-2 on Feb. 28 at home, the Yetis won 7-2 on Feb. 20 in Saanich and 5-1 on Feb. 22 in Courtenay to grab a stranglehold on the series. Should Saanich extend the series, Game 5 goes tonight (Feb. 25) in Courtenay with game time 7:45 p.m. at Comox Valley Sports Centre Arena #1.
Snow may have kept a lot of fans away from Saturday night’s Game 3 in Courtenay, and it seemed the Yetis were hibernating through the first two periods as the Braves netted the only goal of the opening frame and were still up 1-0 after two. But the Icemen heated up in the third, scoring three early goals and two late ones.
First star Eric Margo led the way with one goal and two assists, second star Liam Shaw tallied twice and third star Blake Pearson (backed up by Michael Finlay) kicked out 16 shots to earn the win in net. Duncan Pernal added a goal and a helper.
Three power-play goals boosted the G-Kings to their 7-2 win in Game 2 on Feb. 20 in Saanich. Shaw (1g, 2a) and Wil Finlay (3a) led the scoring while Dallas Maxwell netted two big goals to go along with one each by Cody Eliason, Nicholas Tupper, Austin McNeil and Quinlan Moore.
Michael Hails picked up the win in net. Comox Valley out-shot Saanich 36-27 and led 3-1 after one period and 6-2 after two.
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