After an excellent first month of the Pacific Junior Hockey League regular season, the Abbotsford Pilots entered October dropping two of three games.
Special teams spelled doom for the club on Oct. 4, as Abbotsford allowed two power play goals to the Richmond Sockeyes in a 3-0 loss.
Richmond scored one goal in all three periods, and outshot the Pilots 51-29.
Pilots starting goalie Keaton Dyck made 43 saves, but was pulled with about five minutes to go. Backup Daniel Zuvic stopped all five shots he faced in relief.
Abbotsford then welcomed the expansion White Rock Whalers to MSA Arena for the first time ever on Friday, and blanked the visitors 3-0.
After a scoreless first period, Cameron Obcena and Jayden Castle both connected on power play goals and Baylee Wright added a goal in the third period.
Wright, who was in on all three goals, continues to lead the PJHL in scoring with 28 points in 11 games. Obcena and Jacob De Waal also recorded two point games. Zuvic, making his second career PJHL start, picked up his first win and shutout in the league.
The Pilots squared off with the Langley Trappers at the George Preston Recreation Centre on Wednesday, but fell 5-3 to the now first-place Langley squad.
The two teams traded a pair of goals each in the first period and were locked at two after 20 minutes. Abbotsford got goals from De Waal and Wright in the first period.
Langley went up 4-2 after two, but Brady Morton scored a power play goal to draw the Pilots within one, but that would be as close as Abbotsford would get.
The Pilots now sit in second place in the Harold Brittain conference and fourth overall in the PJHL, with a record of 7-3-1.
Abbotsford hits the road for the club’s lone game this weekend, as they travel to Maple Ridge to battle the Ridge Meadows Flames on Friday night. The next home game for the Pilots occurs on Oct. 19, when the North Vancouver Wolf Pack come to town.
For more on the club, visit abbotsfordpilots.com.
