Beware the Ides of March.
Historically, March 15 has not been kind to reigning royalty. In 44 BC, it was the day Roman emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated.
In 2014, it was the day the Comox Valley Glacier Kings were eliminated from the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Peninsula Panthers defeated the Glacier Kings 2-1 in double overtime Saturday night in Courtenay to take their best-of-seven, second-round playoff series 4-3.
It was a tough loss for the Yetis, who had defeated the Panthers 3-1 on March 12 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. But the Panthers pulled out a 5-4 win at home on March 14 then completed the comeback the next night.
Game 7 featured Michael Hails and Stephen Heslop continuing their goaltenders’ duel that had highlighted the series.
Wil Finlay gave the Glacier Kings the lead at 9:04 of the first, with Connor Logan pulling the visitors even at 18:25. Neither goalie would give an inch through the end of regulation and the first 10-minute OT period.
Cole Glover proved the somewhat unlikely hero for the Panthers, batting the puck past Hails at 8:33 of the second extra period for just his second post-season goal.
The Yetis out-shot Peninsula 7-6 in overtime, with the Panthers holding a 27-24 SOG edge overall. The G-Kings were 0-for-3 on the power play while Peninsula went 0-for-4.
The Panthers evened the series 3-3 March 14 in Peninsula, out-shooting the Yetis 31-27. The teams were tied 2-2 after one period with the Panthers up 5-4 after two.
The visitors went 3-for-10 on the power play, including man-advantage markers by Dallas Maxwell and Nick Govig just over a minute apart that tied the game in the first.
Peninsula went up 4-2 in the second before Liam Shaw got one back for the Icemen. Peninsula went up 5-3, and Jordan Kamprath potted a power-play goal with 16 seconds left, but the Yetis got no closer.
In Game 5 on March 12 in Courtenay, Hails and Heslop kept things scoreless through two periods before the Panthers took the lead early in the third.
Then the Yetis’ power play went to work.
At 6:54 Eric Margo tied things up and Dallas Maxwell put the Icemen in front to stay at 15:01. Margo sealed the deal with an empty netter with 1:09 left in the game.
ICE CHIPS Peninsula now meets the Victoria Cougars for the VIJHL playoff championship … the Cougars knocked off the Campbell River Storm 4-1 in the other second round series … Shaw was the Yetis top post-season scorer with 12 points (5g, 7a) …
