The Victoria Cougars have drawn first blood in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s South Division semifinals.
Matthew Berryman scored 2:01 into the first overtime to lift the Cougars to a 4-3 victory over Westshore Wolves in a penalty filled opening round playoff game Wednesday in Colwood.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series goes tonight at 7 p.m. at Archie Browning Sports Centre in Esquimalt.
READ: VIJHL playoffs: Cougars look to pounce on Coutre and the Wolves
The home side fell behind 3-2 midway through the third period when Darwin Lakoduk scored Victoria’s third straight power play goal. But three and a half minutes later Wolves star defenceman Tomba Huddlestan converted a Cole Gardner pass to make it 3-3.
The visitors outshot Westshore 4-2 in overtime, but the Wolves enjoyed a 37-26 advantage overall.
Goals from Trevor Bottomley and Benjamin Duffin gave the locals a 2-0 lead by the first intermission. But the Cougars power play was in fine form on the night and tallied twice in less than two minutes in the latter half of the second, with Shane Kime and Foster Martin finding the net.
Patrick Osterman stopped 34 shots on the night in the Victoria net, while Jordan Spandli made 22 saves.
