The Nanaimo Buccaneers are on a blazing hot streak that’s showing no signs of cooling down.
The Bucs won their sixth-straight game Friday, on the road, against a first-place team, no less, as Nanaimo visited the Campbell River Storm and skated away with a 7-3 win.
The game was only close early, as the Buccaneers were up 7-1 at around the midway mark of the third period.
Dan Lemmon, Bucs coach, said the Storm had a goal disallowed early and that was a turning point.
“We went to the net hard, we had a lot of opportunities on rebounds, we were driving to the net with our stick on the ice and we found a way to finish,” he said.
Goalie John Hawthorne made 44 saves and was the game’s first star, and Lemmon also credited his defence, which played one man short and met the challenge.
Up front, the scoring was spread out, which is becoming a trait of Bucs hockey.
“We’ve got four lines that are capable of taking over any game…” the coach said. “It helps. Everyone’s fresh up front; it helps us play our game plan which is finishing hits and getting in on the forecheck and when you can roll four lines and keep those forwards fresh all the time, you can get more out of them. Something that we’ve focused on is trying to stay disciplined and let our four lines of forwards roll and I think we’re seeing the rewards.”
Trent Bell scored a pair of goals and Cole Broadhurst, Danny Pion, Jacob Carr, Cale Cripps and Chad Bell were other scorers. Cam Nickerson had three assists.
The night before, the Bucs were 4-2 winners against the Westshore Wolves in a game at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
Hawthorne made 31 saves for the win in that one, Nolan Richardson scored twice and Carr and Brady Chin were other scorers.
GAME ON … The Bucs have one more league game before the holidays as they host the Saanich Braves on Thursday (Dec. 22) at 7:15 p.m. at the NIC.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com