So far, so good for the Langley Rivermen.
The Rivermen opened their B.C. Hockey League campaign on Friday with an impressive 6-3 win over the host Surrey Eagles at South Surrey Arena.
Langley jumped ahead 4-0 in the first period and, after a scoreless middle frame, were edged 3-2 in goals by Eagles in the third stanza to close out the scoring.
Ben Butcher scored the first two goals of the 2015/16 campaign for the Rivermen, at the five minute mark of the first period and 5:57 after that on a Langley power play.
Goals by Justin Szeto and Matthew Graham before the first period was done gave the Rivermen a comfortable four-goal cushion heading into the first intermission.
The second period was scoreless as the Eagles outshot the Rivermen 10-6 in the middle 20 minutes of play.
Just 35 seconds into the third period, Surrey’s Paul McAvoy put his team on the board on an Eagles power play.
And a little more than three minutes after that, the Eagles struck again on a goal from Darren Hards, narrowing the margin to 4-2.
The Eagles’ momentum stalled when Langley rookie Max Kaufman scored his first goal in the BCHL 1:15 after Hards’ goal to make it 5-2 for the visitors.
Graham notched his second of the game at the 14:16 mark of the third frame as Langley moved ahead by four again, at 6-2.
Surrey’s Darius Davidson capped the game’s scoring, cashing in on a power play with 2:06 remaining in regulation.
Discipline and penalty killing were factors for different reasons, for both teams.
Penalty killers from both the Rivermen and the Eagles did a good job, as Surrey went 2-8 on the power play while the Rivermen scored once on six opportunities, as players had trouble staying out of the penalty box.
Langley’s Bo Didur earned the win in goal, stopping 33 of 36 Eagles shots directed his way.
