Weekend Preview: Vikes have shot at tightening playoff deficit vs. VIU

The University of Victoria is going to need to catch fire in the final third of their B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League regular season schedule if they're going to have any chance of defending their 2017 Championship come playoff time in March.

The Vikes are currently six points adrift of Vancouver Island University for the league's fourth and final playoff berth, but they'll have an opportunity to put a sizable dent in that deficit when the teams meet for a home-and-home weekend series that begins on Friday night in Victoria.

Victoria will hope to carry over some momentum from last Saturday's 5-4 overtime loss to Trinity Western that saw the squad come back from a 4-1 third period deficit to earn a point against the BCIHL's top club.

UVic's power play hit the scoresheet twice against the Spartans, marking the third time in four games since the start of 2018 that the Vikes have struck multiple times on the man-advantage. They've also found some solid secondary scoring following a first semester in which the line of Jack Palmer, Brandon Volpe and Liam Shaw did much of the heavy lifting.

First year blueliner Tyler Severson had the first two-point of his BCIHL career on Saturday, while Landon Matechuk and Jordan Evans also chipped in with multi-point efforts. Former WHLer Austin Wellsby has also been a welcome addition with two points in three January games.

Meanwhile, the Islanders head into the weekend knowing that a sweep of the Vikes would extend their lead in the standings to 10 points and all but clinch a posteason berth in their inaugural season.

VIU opened the semester with back-to-back losses to Simon Fraser, followed by a 4-1 victory on home ice over Eastern Washington. Garrett Dunlop, Kobe Oishi and Gage Colpron led the way with six points combined in the win, continuing a run of strong offensive results that began in mid-November.

The trio has accounted for 13 goals and 33 points in VIU's last eight games, which have included five wins. Those totals represent nearly 50% of the team's offence over that span and have left Dunlop, Colpron and Oishi first, second and third in team scoring respectively.

The Mariners win over EWU last weekend was their first since the departure of netminder Carson Schamerhorn. 22-year old Brett Clark has been thrust into the starting role and on Saturday picked up his first win since October 20th with a 22-save performance that earned him second star honours.

Friday's series opener at the Ian Stewart Complex is set for a 7:30 PM faceoff whiel Saturday's rematch in Nanaimo is scheduled for an 8:00 PM start. Both games can be viewed live on Hockey TV.