Bombers Lose in Double OT

The Port Alberni Bombers find themselves on the brink of elimination after losing 3-2 in double overtime to Campbell River Storm on Sunday night at the Alberni Valley Multiplex.
The victory for the Storm gives them a three games to one lead in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League best-of-seven series. A series they can clinch with a victory on Tuesday night in Campbell River.
As for the Bombers – they deserved a better fate on Sunday evening and likely should have won in regulation time. The locals outshot their opponents 53-43 on the night, a shot total that did not include five pucks that rang off the iron behind Storm net minder Kaeden Serpa.
Campbell River started the scoring early, getting a goal from Jan-Felix Faupel at the forty-five second mark of the contest, but the Bombers rebounded when Leim Smith scored at 6:07 of the first period and followed that up with a power play goal from Luke Ridgway just past the halfway point of the opening frame.
After a scoreless second period, the Storm tied the game at 2-2 when Marshall Curri scored against the run of play late in the third frame, sending the two teams to overtime.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the Storm scored early in the second extra frame, Beckett Trado scoring on a well-placed shot to the far top corner behind Bombers goal tender Evan Grant. The goal was credited as shorthanded – the period started with both teams playing with four skaters, Trado scoring at 1:06, mere seconds after a Bomber penalty had ended with the Storm still a man down.
The Bombers were 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Storm were 1-for-2. Smith added an assist on the Ridgway goal, and Cowyn Loney picked up a helper on Smith’s tally.
If the Bombers can force a sixth game in the series with a win in Campbell River on Tuesday, the series will return to the Alberni Valley Multiplex on Thursday night.