The Comox Valley Glacier Kings rode a pair of late goals Tuesday to snare a 2-1 victory over the Campbell River Storm and trim the Storm's lead in the best-of-7 series to 2-1 as the series returns to Campbell River for game 4 Wednesday night.
The game was scoreless through 55 minutes as Storm goalie Riley Welyk and Glacier Kings netminder Zachary Straza locked into a duel in the VIJHL North Division finals.
But Comox finally broke through on a power play at 16:20 of the third period when Liam Shaw converted off assists from Dylan Sampson and Kyle Wade.
Exactly two minutes later, it was Sampson's turn to punch home the game-winner, with assists to Keagun Selva and Colton St. John.
The Storm, however, were not finished. Just 13 seconds after Sampson's goal, Gage Colpron swooped in for an unassisted goal with 1:27 left to play. But Campbell River was unable to penetrate the Glacier Kings' defence the rest of the way.
The Storm outshot Comox 29-18, including a 10-1 edge in the opening period. But Campbell River was 0-7 on the power play, continuing what coach Lee Stone called a troubling postseason trend. The Glacier Kings were 1-7 with the man advantage.
The Storm will have two chances to put the series away at home this week, beginning with tonight's 7:30 p.m. contest at Rod Brind'Amour Arena. Game 5 is scheduled for Friday, March 13, also at 7:30 in Campbell River.
If the series is extended to six games or beyond, the teams face a busy weekend. Game 6, if necessary, would be Saturday in Comox, and Game 7 would take place Sunday night in Campbell River.
In the South Division finals, Victoria closed out a sweep of Westshore with a 7-3 victory Tuesday.