The Port Alberni Bombers saw their three-game winning streak come to a grinding halt, suffering a 9-2 loss to the high-flying Peninsula Panthers on Friday night in North Saanich.
The Panthers, who are arguably the team to beat as the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) approaches the mid-way point in the 2025-26 campaign, scored three goals in each period to extend their winning streak to nine games.
Carson Harris led the goal-scoring parade for the Panthers with three markers, while Ethan Lingard scored twice and Luke Christensen, Markus Nichols, Oscar Aitken-Salmons and Joe Marranzino rounded out the scoring for the hosts.
The Bombers did get close, at 4-2 mid-way through the second frame when Logan Meyer and Malik Oliva scored, but two late goals gave the Panthers some breathing room at 6-2 after forty minutes.
Special teams was an issue on the evening as the Panthers were 2-for-5 on the power play and added two shorthanded goals nineteen seconds apart late in the third frame. The Bombers were 0-for-6 on the power play. Peninsula outshot Port Alberni 51-29 on the evening.
The Bombers return to action next Friday when they travel to George Pearkes Arena to face Saanich Predators, before returning home the next night for a meeting with Lake Cowichan Kraken at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. That game is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm.
Bombers Winning Streak ends with loss to Panthers
