The Prince Rupert Rampage were unsuccessful during their games in Smithers and Hazelton, dropping both games in regulation time.
The Rampage took to the ice in Smithers on Saturday, Oct. 18, trying to extend their winning streak to three games.
The first period saw little action other than a holding penalty on the Smithers Steelheads, which was killed off. The Rampage broke the ice early in the second period as Hunter Johnson scored his fourth goal of the season. Just over 10 minutes after the Rampage goal, Steelheads defenceman Ethan Perry was called for high sticking, sending the Rampage to the power play. On the power play, Hunter Johnson scored his second of the game giving the Rampage a two-goal lead.
With under two minutes to play in the second, Steelheads defenceman Kodi Schwarz put the puck past Rampage goaltender Frank Slubowski, sending the Steelheads into the second intermission trailing by one.
Five minutes into the third period, Smithers forward Nathan Soucie was called for hooking, giving the Rampage a chance to restore their lead. Despite being a man short Steelheads captain Brendan Moore stole the puck from the Rampage and turned on the jets, giving him a breakaway where he scored the equalizer with 12 minutes left to play.
With under five minutes to play, the Rampage won a defensive zone faceoff and tried to break out of the zone, but an errant pass was picked up by Ethan Perry in the neutral zone. After receiving the puck Perry attempted to dump the puck back in the Rampage zone, but the puck took a funny bounce off the stanchion and was directed towards Slubowski unexpectedly. With Slubowski not expecting the puck to come his way he scrambled to make the save, however the puck snuck past him giving the Steelheads the lead. Despite the Rampage’s best efforts to find the equalizer they couldn’t get a goal and saw what was once a two-goal lead evaporate into a 3-2 loss.
On Oct. 19, the Rampage matched up against the Hazelton Wolverines for their second meeting of the season. The Rampage won the last game 4-3 in overtime on Sept. 27.
The Rampage got an early power play after Hazelton forward Freddie Mowatt was charged with a holding call. The Rampage converted quickly on the man advantage, as Hunter Johnson got his team-leading sixth goal of the season to put the Rampage up 1-0.
The Rampage lead didn’t last long, as the Wolverines exploded with five goals in the first period. The Wolverines had goals from Caden Jakesta, Noah Couch, Tanner Wort and two from Jonah Bevington including a power play goal. During the period Hazelton forward Brendan Jay and Rampage forward Tyler Halliday dropped the gloves getting them both tossed from the game. The Rampage went into the intermission down 5-1 and determined to respond.
The Rampage came into the second with a desire to bridge the four-goal gap and make the game more respectable. The Rampage made it a three goal game after forward Dustin Johnson scored his first of the season six minutes into the second. After conceding a goal, the Wolverines turned up the pressure and added to their lead before the end of the second with goals from Daniel Kernaghan, Jack Lenchyshyn, Wort’s second of the game and Bevington’s third of the game giving Hazelton a 9-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
In the third, the Rampage added one last goal as Thomas Robinson scored his first of the year with under six minutes to play, making the final score 9-3.
The Rampage are looking to move past the tough weekend and get back in the win column on Oct. 26 when they host the winless Kitimat Ice Demons.
