Two losses on home ice have dropped the North Delta Devils back to the .500 mark.
The Pacific Junior Hockey League team was blanked 3-0 by the North Vancouver Wolf Pack Friday night, then were topped 5-3 by the Richmond Sockeyes on Saturday. Both games were at the Sungod Arena.
North Delta fell to 10-10-0-1 (won-loss-tied-overtime loss), and are six points back of the Sockeyes and three ahead of Grandview while in third place in the Tom Shaw Conference. The Devils have played three more games than their two rivals.
Against the last-place Wolf Pack on Friday, the Devils were outshot 43-37, but couldn’t beat Anders Ten Vaanholt in the North Vancouver goal. The Wolf Pack scored the only goal of the first period, and held on to the 1-0 lead until Christian Stephenson tallied on the power play to double the difference. Nyshan Basra, a Surrey resident, notched the third Wolf Pack goal.
The Sockeyes had the edge in play for much of Saturday’s game, and three times took a one-goal lead only to have the Devils pull even.
Levi De Waal of North Delta tallied for a team-best eighth time to tie the score 1-1 15 minutes into the game, and just 68 seconds after the Sockeyes scored their second power play goal of the night, Colin Catchpole’s goal tied the game 2-2 after 40 minutes.
Richmond took a 3-2 lead in the third period, then Nicholas Lee replied for North Delta with nine minutes still to play.
The Sockeyes got the game winner at the 15-minute mark of the third, and added a fifth goal with 16 seconds to play.
Richmond, which outshot North Delta 34-20, went three-for-nine on the power play while the Devils were scoreless on five opportunities.
North Delta plays once next week, and it’s a home game against the league’s top team. The Delta Ice Hawks, owners of a 16-2-0-1 record, are the visitors Saturday night at 6:45 p.m. in the Sungod Arena.
