Weekend Preview: Vikes need wins and a favour to stay in playoff contention

Time has almost run out for the University of Victoria when it comes to challenging Vancouver Island University for the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League's fourth and final playoff spot. And the upstart Islanders have a chance to finalize their trip to the 2018 postseason over the course of a busy weekend.

The Vikes meet Eastern Washington on Friday needing a win, as well as some luck on the out-of-town scoreboard a night later, to keep their playoff hopes alive. UVic leads the season series by a 2-1 count including a 4-1 home ice win when the teams last met on January 12. That game saw the hosts take two points despite generating just 14 shots on EWU netminder Austin Brihn.

The Eagles are playing for pride at this point after being eliminated from playoff contention last weekend. The team's offence has sputtered so far in 2018, with just 10 goals to show for seven January contests. With leading scorer Beau Walker soon to graduate, the squad will be hoping to get a sense of who will step up in his absence next fall as the regular season winds down.

Should the Vikes win on Friday they will quickly shift gears and become Eastern's biggest supporters when the Eagles visit Nanaimo on Saturday night. An EWU victory in their matchup with the Islanders would set up a huge showdown on Sunday when UVic and VIU face off in a neutral site affair in Lake Cowichan. The best the defending champs can hope for is a two-win weekend that leaves them six points back of Vancouver Island and keeps them in the race.

Meanwhile, the equation is a simple one for Vancouver Island, who need just two points from the weekend to clinch a playoff position. They're also certainly aware that a win over Eastern on Saturday combined with a victory over the Vikes on Sunday could bring them within a single point of SFU for third place.

The Islanders are coming off three straight wins that have seen them outscore their opponents by a 17-5 margin. The big news for the expansion squad has been the strong play of netminder Brett Clark, who inherited the starting job midseason. Clark posted a 2.61 goals-against average and .916 save-percentage in January and has thus far proven to be an excellent replacement for the departed Carson Schamerhorn.

VIU is 2-0 on the season against Eastern including a 4-1 home decision over the Eagles on January 13. Their record is also perfect against the Vikes at 4-0, having swept a pair of home-and-home series in November and January.

Friday's game at the Ian Stewart Complex is set for a 7:30 PM faceoff with EWU then visiting the Nanaimo Ice Centre at 8:00 PM on Saturday. The Vikes and Isladers will face off at 2:30 PM on Sunday at Lake Cowichan Sports Arena.