Three games in three nights — two of them going to overtime — made for a busy weekend for the Cowichan Valley Capitals junior A hockey team.
After nearly a week off from game play, the Caps were back at it on Friday, March 3 when they hosted the Nanaimo Clippers.
Ethan Dekay scored midway through and Quinn Disher scored late in the first period but the Clippers scored twice in between to tie the game after one. Two powerplay goals, one for each team, highlighted the second period with Ethan O’Halloran scoring his first on the year for the Caps.
The third period saw no goals so off to overtime the teams went, tied at three apiece.
Nanaimo scored the winning goal on the powerplay 1:26 into the extra period to give the Clippers the 4-3 victory.
The Caps didn’t have time to dwell on the heart breaking loss as on Saturday and Sunday evenings, they were at the Alberni Valley Multiplex to play two games in two nights against the host Bulldogs.
On Saturday, March 4, the Bulldogs picked up a 9-3 win against the Capitals in an emotional game, as the two teams combined for 75 minutes in penalties. The Bulldogs built a 3-1 lead before the game was 10 minutes old.
Anyon Yatsyshin’s fourth of the year was Cowichan’s lone first period goal.
The second frame belonged to Alberni, as they went on to add three more goals in the period, followed by another three more in the third to cap things off.
Cowichan’s Kai Dunits and Luke Lavery did score for Cowichan in the third as well but it was too little too late.
Goals were hard to come by on Sunday evening. The Bulldogs once again struck first, as Nicholas Beneteau picked up a powerplay goal near the end of the first period. With the goal, Beneteau claimed the longest point streak in the BCHL this season, at 18 games.
There was no scoring in the second frame, but Cowichan managed to tie things up in the third on a Dunits goal to send the game to overtime. The Bulldogs, notched the game winner 58 seconds into overtime and the Caps fell 2-1.
Up next for the Capitals is a home game starting at 7 p.m. on March 11 when the Chilliwack Chiefs come to play at The Stick.
With files from Elena Rardon