The Oceanside Generals are in the playoffs.
David Anderson made 56 saves, including 25 in the third period alone, to backstop the Generals to a 5-2 victory over the Peninsula Panthers in Sidney on Monday night in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League's wild card game.
The Generals won seven of their 48 regular season games and allowed 140 goals more than they scored this season. That doesn't matter now though, as the VIJHL format allows for the last place teams in each division to play one game to determine the eighth and final playoff participant.
On Monday night in Sidney in front of a crowd of 242 spectators, 20-year-old veteran Travis Flug scored twice to lead the Gens, including an empty-netter in the third, the only goal of a period where the Generals were outshot 25-4. The Gens had to wear B.C. Hockey camp jerseys after seemingly forgetting their jerseys back in Parksville.
The Generals led 2-1 after the first period on goals by Flug and Keagan Fedorko. They were up 4-2 after two when Logan Savard and Chase Gaudreault scored in that frame. The Gens went two for four on the power play and held the Panthers scoreless on their five man-advantage chances.
The Generals will now face the North Division's first-place Campbell River Storm in the first round of the playoffs. The Storm managed 39 wins and 83 points in the regular season to the Gens' seven wins and 17 points.
The best-of-seven series starts Wednesday night in Campbell River (7:30 p.m. puck drop). See Thursday's edition of The NEWS for more about the wild-card game and the upcoming series against the Storm, including the schedule for games at Oceanside Place.