Kalan Anglos
Contributor
Heading into the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoffs, the Comox Valley Glacier Kings felt pretty confident in their goaltending duo of Cameron Large and Jackson Winkler: and for good reason. The tandem has been solid on a nightly basis for the Icemen, and head coach Jordan Butcher has been thankful to have them.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e both been great,鈥� said Butcher prior to round one of the playoffs. 鈥淚t makes my job easier knowing that I can throw either of them out there on any given night and get a solid performance.鈥�
However, heading into game four of the playoffs against the Kerry Park Islanders, one thing has become clear: the Islanders have an impressive stopper as well 鈥� one that has helped them to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Against the Yetis in the regular season, goaltender Matt Chester owned a 2-2 record, with an impressive 1.23 GAA and .960 save percentage. While backup Jackson Jane took the 7-3 loss in game one, Kerry Park head coach Brad Scafe slotted Chester in the lineup for the following games, and the Islanders were rewarded.
In game two Thursday night in Kerry Park, Chester made 33 saves en route to a 7-5 Islander victory. He was handed an early lead in the first period on goals from Trevor Parkhouse, Josh Garneau and Kyle Peterson, while Wade Bartlett tallied for the Kings.
In the second period, Garrett Brandsma scored two for the Yetis, but Kerry Park potted three more to make it 6-2 after two.
In the final frame, Chase Jackson-Puff opened the period with another Islander tally before Rylan Ball and Brian Rideout registered goals for the Glacier Kings. It wasn鈥檛 enough for the Kings, as Chester made 15 saves in the final frame to seal the victory.
In game three Saturday night, the Glacier Kings returned home hoping to re-take the momentum. However, to do so they would have to find a way to solve Chester, which proved no small task. The Icemen came out strong, scoring the only two goals of the opening frame from Lee Orpen and Rylan Ball.
In the second Kerry Park took over. Scoring five unanswered goals (two from Alex Milligan and one apiece from Travis Oickle, Cole Schneider and captain Cole Thomson) the Islanders took a commanding 5-2 lead into the third period. Once again, Chester took over from there.
The Icemen came out determined and controlled play early on, and Rylan Ball scored on the power play to ignite the home crowd. Halfway through the period, Michael Scobie (third star) appeared to score one top shelf off the crossbar, but it was ruled no goal. Still pressuring late in the period, the Kings handed the puck to Rylan Ball, who roofed it to complete his hat trick. However Chester made 21 saves in the period to hand the Yetis a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat. Chester finished with 42 saves and was awarded first star honours.
Game four in the series went Monday night in Kerry Park and game five was Tuesday night in Courtenay, with results unavailable at press time. If needed, game six goes March 1 in Kerry Park and game seven March 3 in Courtenay.
