The Abbotsford Pilots got back on track over the weekend, earning three of four points in a pair of crucial games against conference rivals.
The club hosted the Langley Trappers on Friday, and overcame trailing for most of the game to play to a 3-3 tie.
Langley jumped out to a 2-0 lead late in the first period, but Pacific Junior Hockey League scoring leader Baylee Wright got the Pilots on the board with a shorthanded goal at 17:53 of the first.
After a scoreless second period, Mateo Toledo tied the game up in the third, but 76 seconds later the Trappers went back up by one. Abbotsford’s Noah Wiebe then scored the game-tying goal at 13:52 of the third.
Nothing was settled in overtime. The Pilots outshot the Trappers 47-24, with Gunnar Neilsen making 21 saves.
The Pilots returned to action on Saturday to renew their rivalry with the Mission City Outlaws in Mission.
Abbotsford took a commanding 2-0 lead in the first period, with goals from Ryan MacDonald and Wiebe and that proved to be enough to earn a 2-1 win.
Neilsen made 25 saves to pick up his 12th win of the season.
The results catapulted the Pilots back into first place in the PJHL’s Harold Brittain conference, and they now have a record of 17 wins, six losses, one tie and three overtime losses.
The Pilots next host the Richmond Sockeyes at the MSA Arena on Friday. Face-off is set for 7:30 p.m. The club then hits the road on Saturday when they challenge the Port Moody Panthers.
