Buccaneers melt Glacier Kings
COURTENAY — A dominant first period paced the Nanaimo Buccanners to a 5-3 victory over the host Glacier Kings at the Comox Valley Sports Centre in Courtenay on Friday night.
Nanaimo (11-11) built up a 4-0 lead after the first period and held off a surge from short-benched Comox Valley, (13-7-0-1) who rallied to get as close as down 4-3 midway through the second period.
“I think we played really good in the first and third periods. In the second there, we had a few lapses where we weren’t back-checking, thinking maybe we had it in the bag,” said Bucs’ forward Cam Nickerson, who had 2 goals and 2 assists on the night. “Overall, we played as a team. We did what we were supposed to do,” he said.
Nanaimo owned the Glacier Kings in the first period, outshooting the hosts 20-3 in the opening stanza to quiet down the hometown fans. The Bucs offered a rude welcoming for newly acquired goaltender Zakery Myrowich, as the 17-year-old rookie made his debut for the Icemen after being acquired from the Campbell River Storm. Myrowich was pulled in the second period when Nanaimo’s fifth goal came from an Alex Richardson wrist shot through a screen from the point.