Three games in three nights tested the mettle of the Kerry Park Islanders to start the month of November, and the Isles won all three — with three different goalies.
"We have been on quite the run," said head coach Jake Ebner. "This was a very hard set of games and to come away with six points is great. We are getting solid play up and down our roster and we are seeing the younger players get more comfortable with the transition into the league each game."
The Isles visited the Storm at Rod Brind'Amour Arena in Campbell River on Friday, Nov. 1, then had two home games — the first on Nov. 2 against the Saanich Predators, and the second the following night when the Comox Valley Glacier Kings came to town.
It took some extra work for the Isles to get past the Storm on their own home ice but a Jobey Pearson hat-trick — which was earned when he scored the game-winning goal 6:42 into the extra time — was just the ticket for the Islanders who stole a 6-5 win to start a successful weekend.
Carson Brown scored his 20th of the season, while Rylan Davis and Bailey Gorman added their ninth and first goals of the year in the win while Ethan Taylor played every minute in goal to earn the 'W'.
Five of seven total goals in Kerry Park's game against Saanich on Saturday night came on the power-play. After conceding a power-play goal midway through the second, the Isles went on a tear with Jacob Morrison tying the game in the second period and James Veitch scoring early in the third before Nate Grinevitch netted back-to-back power-play goals to extend the lead to 4-1 with just over five minutes to play.
To their credit, Saanich didn't back down, and they scored twice in three minutes — both with the man advantage — to come within one. Ultimately Kerry Park held on to earn their second win of the weekend and fifth win in a row. Ethan Barron stopped 22 of 25 shots for the win.
A Sunday afternoon matinee treated Isles fans to a 4-1 win over visiting Comox Valley. Kerry Park fired 53 shots on Glacier Kings goalie Aaron Pichette while the game's third star, Carter Puska, got the nod for the Islanders, stopping 34 of 35 shots he faced.
"We had our annual Dad’s weekend, so that added extra excitement for the group and for all three goalies to go in a capture a win was pretty awesome," Ebner said.
Half of Kerry Park's goals were on power-plays including Morrison's goal that opened the scoring 8:49 into the first period. Comox's only goal also came in the first. Colby Robinson scored in the second with the man advantage and then Pearson, and Max Carlson added one each in the third for Kerry Park's sixth straight victory.
The Isles face the Predators in Saanich on Friday, Nov. 9 and then hit the road again in a rare Saturday night contest away from Kerry Park Arena when they visit the Glacier Kings in Comox on Nov. 10.
Fans won't see the Islanders at home again until Saturday, Nov. 16 when the Wolves come to town.
