In a battle between teams whose fortunes are ascending, the Port Alberni Bombers defeated Nanaimo Buccaneers 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Alberni Valley Multiplex, strengthening their hold on second place in the Vancouver Island Hockey League’s North Division.
In a high-spirited and gritty affair, the Bombers used a power play goal in each of the first and second frames to lead 2-0 going into the third period.
After a Buccaneer goal off the stick of Kenneth Boychuk gave the visitors some life, the Bombers added an empty-net goal and another marker in the dying seconds to win going away.
Kash Nicklin scored twice for the Bombers, once on the power play and the other into an empty net. Sean Richards and Jack Barrett scored the others. Leim Smith and Luke Ridgway had two assists for Port Alberni, while Zach Spafford added one helper.
Evan Grant had another quality effort in the Bombers’ goal, stopping all but one of the 28 shots fired at him, with many of his saves thwarting top grade scoring opportunities, along with some key stops when the Buccaneers had pulled their goalie late in the third period.
The Bombers return to the ice on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Esquimalt to face Victoria Cougars at the Archie Browning Arena. They return to home ice on Wednesday evening when they will again face Nanaimo in a 7:00 pm start at the Multiplex.