Campbell River stormed into the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) North Division finals series against the Port Alberni Bombers, winning the first two games.
Game 1 (March 11) was at the Rod Brind'Amour Arena in Campbell River, where the Storm won 5-1. After a scoreless first period, Jacob Kulas scored the Storm's first goal at midway point. However, the floodgates didn't start until Ethan Hill scored his first goal of the playoffs in the first two minutes of the third period, bringing the Storm up 2-0. Port Alberni's Jack Barrett answered Hill with a goal just shy of the sixth minute, but Marshall Curri dashed any hopes of a quick and easy comeback when he scored the Storm's third goal less than a minute later. Dominic Grieco and Kai Williams added two goals to afford the Storm a 5-1 win.
Kulas was named the first star of the game, with a goal and an assist (on Williams' goal). Kaeden Serpa, the Storm's goalie, was named the second star after only allowing one goal in 30 shots.
The Storm travelled to Port Alberni's home arena on March 13. Like Game 1, the first period was scoreless and a Storm player scored the game's first goal in the middle of the second period. Jan-Felix Faupel was the player who put the puck in the net, assisted by Henry Davis.
Curri scored in the fifth minute of the third period, assisted by Faupel. Port Alberni's Grayson Salmon scored a short-handed goal in the middle of the third period. Storm's Kai Adano scored his first of the playoffs, assisted by Curri (his fifth assist in the playoffs) to finish the game 3-1.
While Game 1 had very few penalties, the opposite happened for Game 2, particularly in the third period. Campbell River was on the power play four times, while Port Alberni had the man advantage six times. However, Port Alberni had the most time in the box, with 27 minutes. Storm players spent 18 minutes in the box. Port Alberni player Bostyn MacDonald was issued a game misconduct in the middle of the third period after a major penalty for kneeing.
The Storm and Port Alberni will meet on March 14 (Rod Brind'Amour) and March 16 (Alberni Valley Multiplex). If needed, additional games are scheduled for March 18, 20 and 21.
