Tonight in the WLA the New Westminster Salmonbellies (2-2) host the red hot Maple Ridge Burrards (3-1).
The Salmonbellies are coming off a 14-6 win over the Coquitlam Adanacs and will be looking to move up in the WLA standings with a win over the Burrards. The Burrards come into this game after notching their biggest win of the season so far as they handed Victoria their first loss of the season. When these two teams last met Maple Ridge walked away with a 13-9 win.
The Salmonbellies in this game must find a way to stop Curtis Dickson as he lit them up last game notching nine points. The Bellies cannot allow Dickson to run all over them again because he will make them pay. The even more dangerous thing is that they cannot only focus on Dickson as he will show his play making skills and find open players in the form of Brandon Bertoia and Joel Dalgarno. The second thing the Salmonbellies need to focus on is their penalty kill as they allowed Maple Ridge to go 5 for 8 on the man advantage and you cannot win a game when you give up that many opportunities. The final thing the Salmonbellies have to do is get off to a better start as they got outscored 5-1 in the first period in the last meeting with Maple Ridge and were never able to recover. New Westminster can win this game but they need Neil Tyacke to play better in goal and need Jordan McBride to continue his strong play.
The Burrards in this game need to do what they have done best this year and that is get the ball in Dickson’s stick. Dickson has show great skill this season as he has shown his playmaking skills along with his goal scoring ability. Dickson has been a one man wrecking crew and he has made everyone around him better this season. If the Salmon Bellies focus on Dickson expect Dalgarno and Jarret Davis to have big offensive nights as Dickson will find them if they are open. The Burrards still would like to see Chris Levis be more consistent but he has been solid and should be up to the task of stopping the Salmonbellies.
Right now there is no team hotter than the Burrards and no one playing better than Curtis Dickson so expect the Burrards to walk away with another victory in New Westminster.
