It took a lengthy shootout for the Kerry Park Islanders to vanquish the Westshore Wolves in Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League action at the Q Centre on Wednesday night.
The shootout lasted eight rounds before Brandon McClintick finished it off. Kerry Park goalie Rett Rook made 38 saves in regulation and got his team through the shootout as well.
“Rook was outstanding,” Kerry Park head coach Aaron Spotts said. “He was definitely the backbone of our team. I can’t say enough about his effort. That’s what he’s capable of as a veteran and a 20-year-old in this league.”
Rook claimed sole possession of the No. 1 job when Charles-Olivier Lepage, with whom he shared the position, joined a team in the U.S. earlier in January.
Both Rook and his Westshore counterpart, Jordan Spandli, were at their best, and it took more than half a game for either team to score. Westshore got on the board first at 15:13 of the second period, but Alex Engan tied it up three and a half minutes later with his 10th goal of the season. Evan Easton scored off a two-on-one with McClintick at 7:10 of the third, but Westshore tied things up with a powerplay goal late in the third, scoring with just three seconds left on a two-minute roughing penalty to Kerry Park forward Cole Amado. Neither team scored through 10 minutes of overtime, sending the game to a shootout.
Easton’s goal was his 22nd of the season, giving him the team lead by one over Tanner Tiel, who picked up the second assist on that marker. The goal also put Easton back atop the VIJHL scoring race with 52 points, one more than Victoria’s Booker Chacalias. McClintick’s helper was his league-leading 36th of the campaign.
The Isles visit the Comox Valley Glacier Kings on Saturday, then play at home against the Victoria Cougars on Sunday at 3 p.m.