A punishing power play propelled the Comox Valley Glacier Kings to a convincing 8-2 win over the Oceanside Generals in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League action Dec. 18 in Courtenay.
The Yetis went 5-for-9 with the man advantage and limited the visitors to 1-for-9 on their power play.
Jack Kennelly (first star) scored three of his four goals on the PP. Mitch Ball had a big five-point night with a goal and four assists while Garrett Halls (third star) added a goal and two helpers.
Andrew White and Sheldon Brett netted the other Comox Valley goals. The Icemen outshot the Generals 43-19 with Michael Hails picking up the win. Kiefer Giroux played the first two periods in goal for Oceanside and Alex Mastrodonato patrolled the pipes in the third.
The game got off to an inauspicious start when the Generals tallied a power-play goal just 31 seconds into the first period with Halls off for cross-checking. But it was all Glacier Kings after that.
Kennelly pulled the Yetis even at 10:21 then put them in front at the 12-minute mark. Halls and Brett upped the lead to 4-1 in the second, and power-play markers by Kennelly, White and Kennelly increased the advantage to 7-1.
The Generals got one back at 13:57, but Ball had the final word when he tallied his 20th of the season at 15:19 to complete the scoring.
The win was the Yetis (13-15-2) second in a row and pushed them percentage points ahead of the Generals (13-16-2) for second place in the North Division.
The Icemen played a home-and-home series with the Campbell River Storm on Dec. 21-22, with results unavailable at press time due to advanced holiday deadlines.
The Glacier Kings return to action Jan. 3 when they visit the Nanaimo Buccaneers. Next home game is Jan. 5 against the Saanich Braves with game time 7:30 p.m. at Comox Valley Sports Centre Arena No. 1.
The 2013 VIJHL All-Star Classic goes Jan. 13 in Parksville, with more info online at www.vijhl.com.
