The Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals had some good scoring chances but couldn’t find the back of the net enough on Saturday night, playing to a 3-3 tie with the Nanaimo Buccaneers.
In their 2015-16 home opener, the Gens took a 3-2 lead late in the game as Keegan Fedorko found the back of the net on a shot from the blue line that beat Buccaneers goalie Cole Manns with about four minutes to play. The Bucs would tie it up with the extra attacker at 19:20 of the third period.
Two overtime periods saw neither team score. This gives the Gens a tie and a loss to start their season, as they dropped their first game to the Campbell River Storm 4-1.
“Nobody likes a tie game,” head coach Brad Knight said. “It sucks, I don’t like it. We out shot them two to one. Giving up two short-handed goals is tough but I thought our power play picked it up in the second and third period. We just didn’t pick up that guy on the back door for the tying goal. Hockey’s all about chances and Nanaimo capitalized on theirs and we missed a few chances that we had.”
Josh Carless-Jones (two assists) and Keegan Fedorko (one goal, one assist) both had multi-point nights on defence for the Gens, who played in front of a good home crowd to start off their season.
Along with each goal, the crowd came to life when Qualicum Beach’s Landon Dziadyk broke free for a partial break away, drawing a penalty in the process, along with several key saves from goalie Austin Beauchamp, from Nanton, Alberta, and some big hits thrown in throughout the game by Jeff Deblois, who comes to the Generals from St. Benjamin, Quebec.
“It was lots of fun,” Dziadyk said. “It’s been a long time waiting to make this team and to put on the jersey for the Generals. It was a little nerve wracking at first but then I got in to the swing of things, it got more fun as the game went on.”
The Generals will have another chance to earn their first win of the season as they travel to Nanaimo this Thursday to take on the Buccaneers again (7:15 puck drop at the Nanaimo Ice Centre).
After beating the Bucs twice in exhibition play, the Generals know they’re capable of doing it in the regular season.
“Things are different here,” forward Jonah Pearson said. “Being here the last two seasons, opening against Nanaimo at home, we had two bad losses. This is a different team; it’s very promising and very exciting.”
“I thought the team fed off the energy from the fans and having that really helped us along, especially giving up those two short-handed goals. We finished with a tie but we’ve got a chance to get a win against them this Thursday and we just need to build on this effort and keep moving forward.”
