With their Saturday game cancelled due to a power outage, the Kerry Park Islanders ended up playing a home-and-home series against the Saanich Braves last week.
The Isles were supposed to play the Comox Valley Glacier Kings in between their two games against Saanich, but a weather-related power outage at the Glacier Kings’ arena forced it to be postponed.
In the games they did play, the Isles ended up beating the Braves 3-2 at George Pearkes Arena last Wednesday and losing to the same team by the same score at Kerry Park Arena on Sunday.
The Braves needed just 23 seconds to open the scoring on Wednesday, but the Isles responded with three in a row to take a 3-1 lead out of the first period. Saanich added a powerplay goal in the second period, but Kerry Park made their lead hold up.
“The boys played very well,” Islanders owner Mark Osmond said.
Defenceman Joe Lamoureux scored Kerry Park’s first goal of the game, and Jordan Martin had the other two, while Jarret Malloch had a pair of assists. Chase Anderson stood on his head, making 46 saves for the victory.
The Isles were scheduled to play Comox on Saturday, but the aforementioned power outage changed those plans. The players’ bus had left Mill Bay around 3 p.m., and it was around 4 p.m. that Osmond, who wasn’t travelling with the team, got the call about the cancellation.
“I had to phone the bus and tell them to turn around,” he said.
The scenic voyage up the Island didn’t help the Isles prepare for Sunday’s rematch with the Braves. Although his team came within a goal of tying the game, Osmond felt they wouldn’t have deserved a better result.
“It was one of the worst performances I’ve seen my team play,” he said. “They might as well have not shown up. At this point in the season, they should be prepared for a game.”
The Braves scored once in the first period and twice in the second. Tanner Tiel and Brandon Wilson had third-period goals, but the Isles couldn’t muster any more than that.
“They started to pick it up a bit, but it was too little, too late,” Osmond said. “I felt bad for the ones that were trying, because it’s the same ones that do it all the time.”
Will Connors helped set up both Kerry Park goals, and Rett Rook had a strong showing on his 18th birthday, stopping 38 shots.
“I felt bad for Rett,” Osmond said. “He kept it close all game. The boys were just not doing it for him. It must be frustrating for the goalies when the boys in front of them aren’t doing anything.”
The Isles did get forwards Ty Berger and Scott Smith back from injuries for the Saturday game. Berger hadn’t played since September and Smith had been out for a month. The team is still without a handful of players, including three injured defencemen.
Saturday’s contest was Kerry Park’s last home game until Jan. 7. They have two road games this week as they visit the Victoria Cougars on Thursday and Oceanside Generals on Saturday.
