The Lake Cowichan Kraken couldn't stop their downward spiral despite a frantic effort in their only game of the weekend, Friday, Oct. 10.
The Kraken were in tough against the league-leading Westshore Wolves as they tried to get back in the win column.
Having lost their three previous games, the team was looking to rebound and got off on the right foot with a goal from forward Hunter McLean 4:25 into the first period, his first of the campaign. Jaxon Woodward earned his first assist of the season on the play.
Both teams fired 18 shots on the opposing goalie and the first period ended tied at 1-1.
The Kraken's Landy Johnson was the game's third star. He scored his fifth goal of the season just 15 seconds into the second period to put Lake Cowichan up 2-1. The lead was short lived.
The Wolves scored two more goals and won the game 3-2 despite Lake Cowichan out-shooting them 60-45 in total.
It was a true goalie duel as Westshore's James Hall stopped 58 shots to earn the first star honours, while Lake Cowichan's Evgeni Tkachenko stopped 42 to earn the game's second star nod.
"It was a good game," said Kraken captain Aleksander Leonelli. "I thought we were all over them. We just didn't come out on top."
In other VIJHL action, the Kerry Park Islanders are still seeking their first win of the year after losses to the Port Alberni, Westshore, Oceanside and Victoria to start October.
The Kraken played host to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings on Oct. 17 and the Nanaimo Buccaneers on Oct. 19. The Islanders met Westshore Oct. 18 and Oceanside on Oct. 21 — both games at Kerry Park Arena — but none of those results were unavailable by the Gazette's deadline.
As of Oct. 16, the Kraken sat fifth in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League's North Division standings with five wins and five losses while the Islanders are last in the South Division with a record of zero wins and 12 losses.
