With the playoffs rapidly approaching, the Quality Foods Oceanside Generals have shown they’re peaking at the right time.
They played their final regular-season home game on Tuesday night and scored a rousing 9-1 win over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings at Oceanside Place.
Prior to that game, the Generals played back-to-back games against arch-rivals the Nanaimo Buccaneers, the third-ranked team in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. It was a home-and-away series that featured two close games with the Generals winning the first game 4-2 in front of delighted fans, and then dropping a 2-1 decision the next day at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
In their first match against the Buccaneers on Feb. 16, the Generals scored twice in the first period. A short-handed marker by Aleko Karamanis set the pace for the Generals but the Buccaneers equalized at 15:55 on a power play. With less than 20 seconds left in the period, Ryan Ignace gave the Generals the lead again.
After a scoreless second period, Nanaimo tied it up 2-2 midway the final frame but Bray Kay put the Generals back in command with an unassisted marker and sealed the game for Oceanside with a short-handed goal unassisted with just over a minute left to play.
The next night, the Generals took the initial lead off the stick of Matteo Giomo but the Buccaneers evened it up 1-1 with a late goal in the second period. In the third period, it was the Buccaneers that found the back of the net to earn a 2-1 win.
On Tuesday night against the Glacier Kings, Ryan Ignace, Kay and Giomo each notched two goals. The other scorers were Landon Dziadyk, Liam Lytton, and Greyson Weme.
The Generals are currently ranked seventh overall with 18 wins and 24 losses. But they could drop down a spot as the Westshore Wolves are just two points behind but with two games in hand. The Generals play their final regular season game against the Saanich Braves at Georges Pearkes Arena on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
