Oceanside’s Save-On-Foods Generals are one game away from being done like dinner, which is too bad, because while they find themselves down 2-0 in their best of five VIJHL quarterfinal series against the Kerry Park Islanders after back to back losses this week, it certainly wasn’t for lack of effort.
The Islanders snatched a 4-3 win in game one on home ice Wednesday with the only goal of the third period, and took a stranglehold on the series with a 5-0 win over the Gens at Oceanside Place Thursday.
On Wednesday KP opened the scoring two minutes in and the Generals’ work horse and leading scorer Brent Baltus (Jaden Schmiesser, Dylan Moore) scored on the power play at 10:46 for a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes.
The Islanders upped it to 2-1 4:22 into the second.
Free wheeling Las Vegas forward Tyler Auricchio, who has improved steadily this year, made good on Matthew Dixon feed for his first of two goals on the game to make it 2-2.
KP went ahead and Auricchio (Connor Allison) scored for the Gens with eight seconds left in the period to make it 3-3 after 40 minutes.
In what has become a familiar story line for the young Generals this season, they outworked their opponents in the third, out-shooting them 16-9, only to come up short on the finish.
Thursday’s game was another installment of the fast and the furious as both teams drove hard for the net and traded bone jarring body checks, but the Generals’ remained snakebit around the net as they lost for the sixth straight time on home ice.
Islanders’ head coach Brad Scafe said he was pleased with his team’s effort Wednesday night and agreed that the score wasn’t indicative of the game.
“We were expecting a better performance from our team — I don’t think we played very well in game one — and I thought we played a good game last night. Our guys played much better, and we got great goaltending, which makes a big difference.
“It was a good game,” he said. “Both teams were battling hard all night long, we just capitalized on some of our chances and we got the saves at the other end.”
Another veteran of the Jr. B wars, coach Scafe had props for the Generals’ top line and made the point “they’re a quick team and they work really hard, I just think we have a little more depth right now in our lines.”
Scafe said the Islanders struggled in the first half of the year, but the addition of a couple 20-year-old defencemeen and the signing of ‘tender Tanner Milliron from the Jr. A Wisconsin Wilderness just after Christmas has put them in a position to challenge in the playoffs.
“For sure,” Scaffe answered quickly when asked if he’s expecting a tough game three on Saturday.
“They’ve got nothing to lose, so they’re going to be dangerous. Basically what we’ve told our guys is the only thing that’s happened is we’ve put ourselves in a position to win a series. Thats’ it. We haven’t won anything yet, and were going to have to battle hard to close (the series) out.”
GAME ON
The Generals are on the road Saturday looking to extend their season with a win over the Islanders in KP. Win, and the Gens return home Sunday for game four of the series in a 3 p.m. start.