Last week, the Kerry Park Islanders had a chance to beat the Victoria Cougars for the first time in more than four years, and to get an early-season win over the struggling Nanaimo Buccaneers, but they whiffed on both opportunities.
“We didn’t play as well as we should have,” Islanders owner Mark Osmond lamented.
The Isles were outshot 37-26 by the Cougars on Thursday and didn’t score until there were just 38 seconds left in the third period, but Osmond felt his team wasn’t that far away from winning it.
“We kept it close most of the game,” he said. “I always thought we were in the game. I think if we had played against them the way we played against Westshore [the previous Saturday], we would have beat them.”
Chase Anderson made 34 saves and Jarret Malloch scored on the powerplay for his team-leading third goal of the season. The result was still better than most of the times the Isles faced the Cougars last season: Victoria shut out Kerry Park four times in eight regular-season meetings in 2015-16, and five times in eight games the year before.
“I was a little upset at the way they played, but a 3-1 loss is better than we normally do down there,” Osmond said. “The guys have to play 60 minutes and be ready for the game.”
Even more frustrating was the Isles’ 4-3 loss at home against the Bucs, who sit last in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s North Division, on Saturday.
“I was really disappointed in their performance,” Osmond said. “Especially the last two periods.”
The Bucs scored the only goal of the first period. Defenceman Connor Bissett got the Isles on the board in the first minute of the second period, but Nanaimo scored the next two. Another Kerry Park blueliner, Brad Bagnall, went bar-down on the powerplay for his first VIJHL goal, but the Bucs scored again to finish the frame up 4-2. Bissett’s second of the game got the Isles back within one at 14:49 of the third, but that was all they could muster.
“If we had played the first two periods like we played the last, we would have won, no contest,” Osmond said. “Hopefully the players will have a look at themselves and we can rectify this.”
The Isles went into last week’s games with a 3-1 record, but dropped to 3-3. Osmond believes his team can climb back up in the standings, where the teams are closer than usual.
“There’s quite a bit of parity this year,” he said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be in the mix. We just need to play 60-minute games and be ready to play.”
The Isles can get back at the Bucs this Thursday when the teams meet in Nanaimo. On Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Kerry Park will play host to the Saanich Braves, who lead the South Division with 10 points in eight games.
“They’re on a bit of a roll,” Osmond said of the Braves. “Hopefully the boys are up for it.”
