Bucs win last home game of 2012

Nanaimo Buccaneers forward Will McNamara is stopped on a breakaway during Thursday's Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League game against the Campbell River Storm at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. The Bucs won 5-4.

GREG SAKAKI/The News Bulletin

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The Nanaimo Buccaneers didn't have much trouble weathering the Storm in their final home game of 2012.

The Bucs defeated the Campbell River Storm 5-4 on Thursday at the Nanaimo Ice Centre in a game that wasn't as close as the score suggests.

"A 'W's a 'W,' they're not all pretty," said Brad Knight, the team's coach. "It was fine. We did what we had to do to win."

The visitors managed a strong start and the teams went into the first intermission tied 2-2. The Buccaneers reassessed things from there, and maintained a clear edge in play.

"We kept it simple," said Quentin McShane, team captain. "We didn't try to stickhandle past the blueline, we didn't turn the puck over, we got the puck out and we went from there."

Nanaimo made it 5-3 before Campbell River closed out the scoring with 30 seconds left.

Beau Blanaru, Collin Mathieson, McShane, Garrett Dunlop and Jordan Levesque scored for the Buccaneers and Cameron Large got the win in goal as Nanaimo outshot Campbell River 41-21.

The Bucs (17-13-2) have one more game this month, Saturday (Dec. 22) against the Oceanside Generals (13-16-2) in Parksville. The last game there was one of the best games of the season, but didn't have the right result, ending 5-3 for the Parksvillains.

McShane said it's important for the Bucs to pick up the two points on Saturday and show they can win in a tough building.

"They try to play mind games with you and try to run you and get you out of it," he said. "We've got to ignore it and play our game and once we do that they can't keep up with us."

GAME ON … The Bucs and Gens face off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Oceanside Place. Tickets will be available at the door.

sports@nanaimobulletin.com