Campbell River leads Comox Valley 2-0 in VIJHL playoffs

Campbell River Storm goalie Nick Peters stops Comox Valley Glacier King forward Alex Bend in first-period action of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff match. The Storm won 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Photo by Terry Farrell

Comox Valley Glacier King forward Nolan Bowsher looks to feed a teammate in the slot during first-period action of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff match against the Campbell River Storm. The Storm won 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of seven series. Photo by Terry Farrell

Comox Valley Glacier King forward Logan Furlong looks for a possible wraparound attempt on Campbell River Storm goalie Nick Peters during first-period action of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff match. The Storm won 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Photo by Terry Farrell

Comox Valley Glacier King forward Nick Esposito has a step on Campbell River Storm defenceman Sean Meehan during first-period action of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff match. The Storm won 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Photo by Terry Farrell

Comox Valley Glacier King forward Max Gorzelnik and Campbell River Storm defender Sean Yeo battle for puck possession during first-period action of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff match. The Storm won 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Photo by Terry Farrell

The Campbell River Storm has jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings in an opening round matchup of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Storm won 3-1 at home Tuesday and 5-2 at the Comox Valley Sports Centre Wednesday.

Comox native Aodhan Hildebrandt scored the Yetis’ lone goal Tuesday while goalie Steven Reganato took the loss in net. Shots on goal were 34-32 in favour of Campbell River.

In Wednesday’s game, the Storm scored four times before Jake Gusavitch put Comox Valley on the board at 11:30 of the second period. Matthew Jackson, an affiliate player from Comox, scored for the home side in the third but the visitors added a fifth to seal the win. Shots were 42-20 for Comox Valley. Reganato started the game, but was pulled in the second period after an early goal. Steven Reid played the rest of the game in net.

“We were all over them (Wednesday),” Glacier Kings head coach Mike Nesbitt said. “Their goaltender (Nick Peters) is hot.”

He said his team is “a bit snake bitten,” and the power play has been struggling.

“Our top goal scorers have got to get going,” Nesbitt said, noting one win in a seven-game series can turn things around. “We just have to come together. We have meetings today and practices today, and we’ll get ‘er going from there.”

He anticipates games three and four to be nearly sold-out in both arenas.

The two teams face off Friday, 7:30 p.m. in Campbell River.

On Saturday, the series comes back to the CV Sports Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.

reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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Campbell River Storm Comox Valley Junior B Hockey VIJHL