The Cranbrook Bucks held off the Cowichan Valley Capitals in their Saturday afternoon BCHL Showcase matchup, earning a 5-4 victory.
The Bucks managed to jump out the gate for a great start. A 5-on-3 power play goal from Noah Leibl opened the scoring near the midway mark of the first period. The Bucks added one more in the opening frame from Luke Pfoh. Cranbrook fired 18 shots on Capitals goalie Evan May, and took a 2-0 lead into the second period.
Cowichan Valley found another gear in the middle stanza. The Caps got an early goal from Sam Schofield to cut Cranbrook’s lead in half. The Bucks responded shortly after with Kellan Hjartarson’s third goal of the season to restore their two-goal lead at 3-1. However, the Capitals kept the pressure on, and they were rewarded with goals from Griffin Wilson and Adam Jeffery to lead 3-2 after forty minutes.
The Bucks took advantage of Cowichan Valley’s penalty troubles in the third period. Forward Johnny Johnson tallied twice with the man-advantage to put the Bucks up 5-3. The Capitals got a late goal from Adam Jeffery, but would not get any closer. Cranbrook finished their first BCHL Showcase with a 5-4 win and a 1-1 record, improving to 3-3 on the season. Cowichan Valley’s record falls to 0-6.
The Bucks will have a bit of a break before their next game. The Nanaimo Clippers visit Western Financial Place for the first time on Saturday, October 30.
Buck Tracks:
- Cranbrook finished 3/8 on the power play. The Bucks outshot Cowichan Valley 34-21.
- Goalie Evan Gartner earned his first BCHL win, improves record to 1-1.
- Luke Pfoh scored his first BCHL goal, currently 4th in Bucks scoring (1g, 4a).
- Tyson Dyck held off scoresheet, point streak ends at 5 games.
- Quaid Anderson left the game after sustaining an injury in a third period collision with Capitals forward Ronan Walsh. Walsh was issued a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.
