The Kerry Park Islanders held 2-0 leads in each of their three Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League games this past weekend, but in only one case were they able to turn that into points.
The Isles lost 4-2 to the Peninsula Panthers at Panorama Recreation Centre on Friday, beat the Westshore Wolves 3-2 at Kerry Park Arena on Saturday, and lost 5-4 to the Saanich Braves at George Pearkes Arena on Sunday.
“I would say overall we were pretty good the whole weekend,” Islanders head coach Aaron Spotts said. “Although they weren’t the results we wanted.”
The Isles got their goals from Josh Parkin midway through the first period and Isaac Leik early in the second. The Panthers replied with two in the second, then two more in the third. Rett Rook stopped 32 of 36 shots in the Kerry Park net.
“For a good 35 or 40 minutes of the game on Friday, we were the better team,” Spotts said. “We let off the gas in the third and didn’t do much.”
Frustrated with Friday’s result, the Isles responded with a full 60-minute effort at home on Saturday. Samson McLean and Leik scored in the first. Former Isle Didrik Wasson Lillehaug and Duncan product Kahlil Fontana evened the score for Westshore, but McLean potted his second of the game on the powerplay with 2:13 left in the second to put the Isles up for good. Charles-Olivier Lepage made 33 saves to improve to 2-0 in his short time with the Isles.
Spotts was pleased with the result, but felt his team concentrated too much on preserving the advantage in the third period, rather than trying to build on the one-goal margin.
“We were trying to protect the lead and got away from our game,” he said. “The effort was still there, but we only generated two shots. We’ve got to focus on trying to finish teams off.”
Riley Windsor and Matt Baird staked the Isles to a 2-0 lead in the first period but the league-leading Braves pulled ahead with three in the second. Leik tied the score in the third, but the Braves regained the lead. A powerplay goal by Evan Easton made it 4-4 with nine minutes left, but Duncan’s Cam LeSergent put the Braves back on top for good at 12:56 of the third. Rook gave up five goals on 47 shots.
“We went down there wanting to rebound off the first time we played them [on Sept. 7] and lost 7-1,” Spotts said. “We could have won that game, but we didn’t get a few bounces here and there.
“I’ve got to compliment the guys on their effort. We will get results here as long as that continues.”
The Islanders were missing some key players due to injuries, including veteran forwards Braydon Nelson and Brandon McClintick, but Spotts was pleased with the way the other players responded.
“It gave other guys an opportunity, and they did well when they were put in new situations,” he said.
McLean was back in the Kerry Park lineup for the first time since December 2017, and recorded three points in three games. McLean missed the second half of the 2017-18 season, but approached Spotts a few weeks ago about returning to the team.
“He’s a really dynamic personality in the room, and he brings a lot on the ice as well,” the coach said. “He’s a charismatic kid who brings a lot of potential. He’s had a big impact for the team in the short time he has played here.”
The Isles will play two games at home this weekend, hosting the Peninsula Panthers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and the Oceanside Generals on Sunday at 3 p.m.
“I feel if we played like we did against Saanich, we should give ourselves a good chance against both teams,” Spotts said.
