The Port Alberni Bombers kept their first-place hopes alive with a 5-3 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League victory over Comox Valley Glacier Kings on Wednesday night at the Alberni Valley Multiplex.
Leading 1-0 after one period of play, and tied at 2-2 after 40 minutes, the Bombers fell behind early in the third frame when Henry Toomer scored on the power play to give the Glacier Kings a 3-2 advantage.
But less than three minutes later the Bombers scored on the power play to draw even once again – Sean Richards scoring his twenty-ninth goal of the campaign, and then added two shorthanded goals to ice the victory.
The Bombers did not score an even strength goal all evening. Jack Barrett scored late in the second period, giving the Bombers another extra strength marker, while Kai Verbrugge, in the first period, and Leim Smith and Sam Davidson, in the third frame, all scored with the Bombers killing a penalty.
The Glacier Kings were 1-for-4 with the man advantage, but surrender the three shorthanded markers to the Bombers, while Port Alberni was 1-for-6 on the power play, also surrendering a one shorthanded tally to Comox Valley.
Evan Grant stopped 24 of 27 shots as he picked up his seventeenth win of the season and continues to lead the VIJHL with a 2.57 goals against average.
The Bombers are now one point behind North Division-leading Campbell River Storm with both teams having two games remaining in the season. The Storm host Nanaimo Buccaneers on Friday night and travel south to face Peninsula Panthers on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Bombers finish the 2024-25 campaign on the road – traveling to Nanaimo on Thursday night to face the Buccaneers before hitting the road once again on Friday when the meet the Kraken in Lake Cowichan.
Although the Bombers final two results will decide their finish, one thing is certain – there will be playoff games next week, against an as yet undetermined opponent. Dates for those playoff games will be decided once the season ends.
Bombers Closer to Top with Win Over Glacier Kings
