The Nanaimo Buccaneers are one win away from the next round of the playoffs.
The city’s junior B hockey club leads its first-round series three games to none after shutting out the Comox Valley Glacier Kings 4-0 on Saturday up Island.
"It was a much closer game than the scoreline indicated," said Dan Lemmon, coach of the Bucs. "Comox came hard out of the gate and we got some real good goaltending and some key goals."
Will McNamara opened the scoring just a minute and a half into the first period, and a turning point came when the Glacier Kings were awarded a power play midway through the frame and Nanaimo's Nick Gomerich scored a short-handed goal to put his team up 2-0.
Coleman Doney and Jordan Levesque also scored in the win and Alex Orth made 29 saves for the shutout.
The series now becomes do-or-die for the Yetis.
"They're playing to keep playing, so we're expecting the best Comox Valley Glacier Kings team to show up for Game 4," Lemmon said. "In a playoff situation like this, it's always the last win that's the hardest to get."
GAME ON … Game 4 is Tuesday (March 1) at 7 p.m. at the Comox Valley Sports Centre. Game 5, if necessary, would be Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at the NIC.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com