It looked like a sure thing for the Kerry Park Islanders last Saturday.
Leading the Westshore Wolves 4-3 as the last minute of play ticked down during the Hockey Day in the Valley game at the Island Savings Centre, all the Islanders needed to do was kill time. And with a man advantage to boot.
"Fourteen seconds to go, I was thinking just dump the puck, but they were thinking empty netter," Islanders owner Mark Osmond recalled.
Westshore gained control of the puck and scored a shorthanded goal to force overtime, then won on a goal by former Isle Kyle Peterson.
Disappointed as he was with the outcome, Osmond felt Kerry Park was the better team, outplaying the Wolves in the first period and most of the third.
"I was happy with the team's performance," he said. "Westshore is a strong team, and we were right there with them."
Francis Slicer had a hat trick for the Isles, with Hobin Zinck scoring the other goal and Nick Kean chipping in with a pair of assists. Leighton Williams made 31 saves on 35 shots.
Back at Kerry Park Arena on Sunday afternoon, the Isles lost 7-0 to the Victoria Cougars. The Isles were shorthanded 14 times and only had 10 powerplays despite a pair of nasty hits from behind by Victoria, which weren't called, one of which left Kean unconscious. "I'll take the penalties," Osmond said. "But they've got to call some on both teams."
Osmond was impressed with the way head coach Dale Purinton kept the Kerry Park players under control when they wanted retribution. Chances are the teams have more than a few meetings coming up.
"We'll probably have them in the playoffs, so hopefully we'll give them a go," Osmond said.
Recent addition Michael Herringer got his first start in net for the Isles, and earned third star honours for his 52-save outing. The Isles visit Westshore this Wednesday and host the Oceanside Generals in Mill Bay at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
On Sunday, the Isles will hold the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League All-Star Game at the Island Savings Center, beginning at 3 p.m.