After collecting the first shutout win in team history last Thursday, the Lake Cowichan Kraken went on to a pair of setbacks against the Oceanside Generals over the weekend.
Josh Robins turned aside all 37 shots that he faced on Thursday as the Kraken blanked the Westshore Wolves 3-0 at the Q Centre in Colwood. The Kraken returned home for their next two games, but lost 4-1 to the Generals on Friday and 8-2 on Sunday.
Robins and his teammates shut down the third-place team in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s South Division. The shutout came in Robins’s 30th appearance of the season and marked the 12th win of his rookie campaign. At the other end of the rink, Benjamin Edwards made 30 stops for the Wolves, allowing goals by Aiden Eddy and Richard Bergman in the first period and defenceman Dallas Brown in the third, while Kellan Brienan recorded a pair of assists.
Back in Lake Cowichan the following night, the Kraken were beaten 4-1 by the second-place team in the North Division. The Generals scored one in the first period, two in the second and another early in the third before Brown got the Kraken on the board with his fifth of the year. Robins stood on his head once again, stopping 41 of 45 shots, while Oceanside goalie Ashton Sadauskas finished with 15 saves.
The Generals were back at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena on Sunday, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, adding one in the second and four more in the third. Brienan had a shorthanded goal for the Kraken in the second, and Anthony Wilson added an even-strength marker in the third. Jake Hebert was between the pipes for Lake Cowichan on Sunday, and made 35 saves as the Kraken were outshot 43-27.
Following the weekend games, the Kraken were still five points ahead of the Port Alberni Bombers for a wildcard playoff spot with five games left to play.
The Kraken visited another wildcard hopeful, the Kerry Park Islanders, in Mill Bay on Tuesday evening. The club will play at home against the Comox Valley Glacier Kings this Sunday at 5:30 p.m., then visit the Bombers this coming Tuesday.