TYSON TAYLOR
sports@pqbnews.com
The Save – on – Foods Oceanside Generals found themselves short handed heading into last week’s games thanks to some rough stuff, a suspension, and the Christmas break right around the corner.
Friday night saw the Generals in Campbell River, where they were looking to bounce back from a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of the Storm. Campbell River came into last Friday’s matchup winning 11 of their last 16 games and were rolling as of late, while the Gens were looking to get back into the win column before the Christmas break.
The Generals were short handed heading into the game as Devin Warfield was gone for the Christmas break early and Daine Elphicke was suspended for four games after a fight in the last game against Campbell River’s Gavin Rouser.
“Having a short roster gives the guys a chance who normally don’t play as much, especially the fourth liners. It gives everyone a chance to get into the game right away, take some hits and throw some hits and get their feet going,” Coach Dan Lemmon said about having a short handed roster heading into both of these games this weekend.
The Gens took just four penalties on the night, down from their last meeting with Campbell River, but were outshot 40-19. Goaltender Evgeuni Makarski saw a lot of action on this night, as did Liam Giroux, who came in for Makarski with just under five minutes left in the second.
Jonah Pearson opened the scoring in this one, his fifth on the year, to give the Generals a 1-0 lead. Campbell River answered back to tie just over a minute later but then Travis Flug found the back of the net off a feed from Brodie Smith to make it 2–1 for the Generals just past the two minute mark of the second period.
The floodgates opened up for the Storm after that, as Campbell River went on to score five more times in the second frame, knocking Makarski out of the game for Giroux. Campbell River tacked on one more early in the third to round out their night and give them the 7-2 lead which they kept up to the final buzzer sounded.
Pearson was back at it Saturday night against Comox as he once again opened the scoring, his second goal in as many games, to give the Gens an early lead in the first period, but the Gens eventually lost 4-2.
The Generals head into the Christmas break trailing the Saanich Braves by 12 points. It’s a situation the Generals are well aware of and are looking to play with more urgency coming out of the Christmas break.
“We know we have a bit of a hole we dug for ourselves, the kids understand that and it’s been playoff hockey for us right now until the end of the season. Besides a game we dropped to Nanaimo 5–0, we’ve been right in every game lately and we just need to make sure we bury our chances and stay out of the box,” Lemmon said about the remaining games on the schedule ahead for the Generals.
