There was a lot of hype for Game 3 and it did not disappoint. It was a back and forth game that saw 5 lead changes and no team led by more than one goal until past the midway point of the third period. In the end, Comox came from behind twice to beat the Oceanside Generals 7-4. As was the case in the first couple games, it was a very physical game as both sides have been beating each other up since Game 1 and I expect it to be no different in Game 4.
Carter Johnson continued his hot play by scoring just over 5 minutes into the first period by opening the scoring. Logan Furlong would come back less than 2 minutes later after taking a pass from Joe Weber, went wide on the defence and beat Ashton Sadauskas up high on the short-side. The Glacier Kings took a 2-1 lead just 10 seconds later when Tynan Klein-Beekman bodychecked his man along the boards to turn the puck over inside the Oceanside blue line. Aodhan Hildebrandt scooped it up and fed Trey Anderson in the slot who quickly buried it. The Gens fought back with a goal from Brendan Carlson late and the second period would end 2-2.
Oceanside would take their second lead of the game when Jacob Thomas potted his first of the playoffs. The GKings tied it up on the power play when Logan Kurki won the faceoff to Caileb Berge who skated to the opposite side of the ice and passed back to Jory Swanson who fired the puck off the post-and-in to make it 3-3. The Generals took another penalty and the visiting team made them pay again. Logan Kurki fed the puck down to Swanson who brought it back to the blue line, took the shot, Jeremy Dewar deflected it, Sadauskas made the save but Dewar got his own rebound and shot it into the empty net to make it 4-3. Brendan Carlson would net his second of the game before the middle frame ended and the game was tied heading into the third.
Comox Valley would open the scoring in the third period with a 5 on 3 PP goal. Logan Kurki won the faceoff to Caileb Berge who skated around with the the puck and shot a wrister past the goaltender for a 5-4 lead. Caileb Berge scored his second of the period taking a pass from from Jory Swanson who was behind Oceanside’s net. Berge one-timed the pass and it was 6-4. Joe Weber would evetually score into the empty net to make the final 7-4.
There was an ugly incident in the latter stages of the second period. During a scramble around the goal, Sean Brendeland, who was having a very strong series, saw Berge poking away for the puck while the goalie was covering it. He delivered a vicious cross check that knocked Berge down to the ice. He then cross checked Berge again while he was down. A couple of Glacier Kings jumped on Brendeland. Eventually, Clayton Bono and Brendeland would squared off in a pretty good tilt. Brendeland would receive a 5 minute penalty for a “Major Blow To The Head”, 5 minutes for fighting, 2 game misconducts and there will be an upcoming suspension that has not been announced at the time of this post. This will be a big blow to Oceanside as he has been terrific in the first 2 games of the series.
Both teams have showed that they won’t shy away from the rough stuff and will protect their own players. Clayton Bono took matters in his own hands with Sean Brendeland. Head coach/GM Mike Nesbitt said after the game that he likes the physical play but wants to see it played cleanly (referring to the head shot). I asked him about his team’s effort.
“I thought we were the better team for most of the game. It’s been a rough, tough series so far but I think our skill keeps showing through. We’re an offensive team, we won and turned the series around. Now we have home ice advantage and hopefully we can get it done Tuesday night and take a 3-1 series lead.”
Caileb Berge, for a second game in a row, came back from an injury to score. Nesbitt talked about his captain.
“Caileb is a pure team leader. He comes back from the dressing room after being hurt, big shout out to Bono for for protecting Bergy, he’s a good teammate. Bergy comes back for the third period and rips one top corner and then scores the 6th goal too. He’s been the main guy all year and adding Kuki to that line with Swanson is the best line in junior hockey.”
Game 4 is on Tuesday in Courtenay. This is obviously the biggest game in the series so far. If the Glacier Kings win, it will force Oceanside to win 3 straight. If the Gens win, they regain home ice advantage. Game time is 7:15 which means a 7:00 start for the pre-game show on HockeyTV. Should be another fun game. All three so far have been close and have not been decided until the last couple minutes of each game.
That’s it for today. See you at the rink. Stay safe everyone.
Above The Pond 