On Thursday night the Maple Ridge Burrards took on the New Westminster Salmonbellies. The match was hard fought as both teams were desperate for a win.
The game began with New Westminster drawing first blood on a goal by Mike Berekoff. Maple Ridge though would tie the game up as they received a goal from Jonathan Munk. New Westminster would score another goal in order to take a 2-1 lead in the game. After one period New Westminster led 2-1 in what was a defensive struggle between the two teams. New Westminster extended their lead in the second period as they scored two consecutive goals in order to take a 4-1 lead. Maple Ridge though would rally scoring two goals of their own in order to cut the lead to just one goal as the score was now 4-3. New Westminsteer though with five minutes left in the second period scored another goal in order to extend their lead to 5-3. After two periods these two teams were locked in a defensive struggle as both goalies were stellar but despite their lead New Westminster was being outshot 35-27 after two periods. Maple Ridge would score to open the third period and once again cut the lead to one goal as the score was now 5-4. New Westminster though broke the game wide open as they scored 3 consecutive goals in order to take a commanding 8-4 lead. Maple Ridge tried to stay in this game and added another goal but it was as close as they got as New Westminster won the game 8-5. New Westminster with the win improves to 6-6 and leaps to third place in the WLA. Maple Ridge with the loss continues to struggle and fall to 1-10 -1 on the season and remain in last place in the WLA.
Maple Ridge did everything in their power to attempt to get a win as they held New Westminster’s offense to just 35 shots on net and had 54 chances of their own on the New Westminster net. Despite outshooting New Westminster Maple Ridge was never able to get the lead as they always trailed New Westminster in this game. The reason Maple Ridge lost this game was due to their special teams as they went 2 for 8 on the power play. In a tight game like this you need to take advantage of every opportunity you can but Maple Ridge failed to do so. Maple Ridges top two players of the game were Drew Dickie who made 27 saves on 35 shots and Patrick O’ Meara who lead the offense with two assists. Maple Ridge continue to be unable to find a way to get a win and continue to come up short their next game will be on Sunday July 8 against the Nanaimo Timbermen.
New Westminster won this game due to the outstanding play of Tyler Richards. Richards stood on his head and made 49 saves on 54 shots on net and earned third star of the game for his performance. Even while his defense struggled Richards was solid for New Westminster in net and did not crack. New Westminster also won due to two strong performances from Kevin Crowley and Jordan McBride. Kevin Crowley had 2 goals and 3 assists and was named second star for his performance while McBride had 2 goals and 2 assists and received first star of the game honors. New Westminster showed resilience tonight as despite being outshot 54-35 they found a way to win. New Westminster will next be in action on Friday July 6th in an important matchup against the Burnaby Lakers.
