The Peninsula Panthers clawed home ice advantage away from the Comox Valley Glacier Kings in their second round Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff series, defeating the Yetis 2-0 Tuesday night in Courtenay.
The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 and host Game 2 Friday. A pair of power-play tallies was the key to victory as Alex Milligan netted the only goal the visitors would need at 8:15 of the first period and first star Sean Buchanan sealed the deal at 17:34 of the third.
Peninsula out-shot the G-Kings 30-24. Winning goalie Stephen Heslop was the game’s second star and losing goalie Michael Hails was third star. While the Panthers went 2-for-4 on the PP, the Yetis had eight man-advantage situations but could not convert any of them.
Game 3 in the series goes March 8 in Courtenay (7:30 p.m. Sports Centre #1) and Game 4 March 10 in Peninsula.The winner of this series meets the winner of the Victoria Cougars-Campbell River Storm series in the VIJHL playoff finals.
The Cougars-Storm series gets underway Thursday night in Victoria. Victoria swept Kerry Park Islanders 4-0 while Campbell River defeated Nanaimo Buccaneers 4-2.