The Cranbrook Bucks faced the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Monday at the 2022 BC Hockey League Showcase, in just the second all-time meeting between the two teams. After beating the Capitals by a 5-4 score at last year’s showcase, Cranbrook used an offensive explosion to top the Caps this time around.
Despite outshooting Cowichan by a 14-3 clip in the first period, the Bucks came out of the opening 20 minutes with just a 2-1 lead on the scoreboard. Cranbrook then exploded for five goals in the middle frame and took a 7-2 advantage into the second intermission. The Bucks added a pair of goals in the third period to take a convincing 9-2 decision.
Cranbrook was led offensively by forward Jack Silich, who tallied three goals in the contest for a hat-trick. Forwards Luke Pfoh, Nick Peluso, and Jarrod Smith also found the back of the net, while defenders Cam Kungle, Jack Henry, and Rhys Bentham scored for the Bucks as well.
In addition to Silich’s three-goal effort, Bentham also tallied a trio of points by adding a couple of helpers to his goal. Henry and Kungle each tallied a goal and an assist, while Bauer Morrissey, Ethan Sundar, Kellan Hjartarson, and Jaxon Fuder each recorded two assists, and Noah Quinn added a helper of his own.
Carter Capton stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced to notch his second straight win to start the season. Capton is now 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against-average, a .958 save-percentage, and one shutout in his short BCHL career.
Cranbrook improved to 6-2-0 on the season and 4-1-0 as the road team in the win. The Bucks are back in action on Tuesday when they wrap up their showcase against the Nanaimo Clippers.
The game’s official boxscore from the BCHL website can be viewed here, while the game recap from Cranbrook’s website can be found here.
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