They saved the best for Parent’s Night. The Port Alberni Bombers, playing their final home game of the 2023-24 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League in front of a crowd that included family and friends, suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to Comox Valley Glacier Kings on Friday night at the Alberni Valley Multiplex.
Getting an inspired performance from goaltender Dylan Dykstra, who stopped 72 of 74 Glacier King shots, the Bombers erased a 2-1 deficit when Jett Ronning scored his seventh goal of the season to send the game to overtime. Ronning’s goal came 17 seconds after the Bombers had killed a 5-on-3 Comox Valley power play.
The overtime period solved nothing, although the Glacier Kings outshot the Bombers 7-1 in the extra frame but continued to be stymied by Dykstra.
The Glacier Kings outscored the Bombers 2-1 in the shootout – Ivan Kedrov and Ryley Callan scoring for Comox Valley and Kai Verbrugge scoring for Port Alberni.
Jakob Churchill scored the other Bomber regulation time goal.
The Bombers close out their season on Saturday night when they travel to Parksville to take on the Oceanside Generals. Opening face-off is set for 7:00 pm at Oceanside Place.
Bombers Lose Thriller in Shootout
