The Prince Rupert Rampage bounced back from their loss to Terrace with a successful road trip to Quesnel and Williams Lake Dec. 3-4.
The Rampage won the first game of their two-game road trip, taking home a commanding 9-3 victory against the Quesnel Kangaroos before losing in overtime to the Williams Lake Stampeders 4-3.
“It’s been a really good trip,” said coach Roger Atchison. “No doubt about it for coming this far.”
In their first game of the back-to-back on Dec. 3, the Rampage took a 2-1 lead against the Kangaroos at the end of the first period behind two goals from Dominick Hodges. The team extended their lead 7-1 in the second period behind goals scored by Jean Luc Fournier, Jordan Aubee and Michael Kryds.
Atchison said the team utilized its speed and played clean hockey to take advantage of errors made by their opponents.
“I think our second through sixth goals were power play goals,” he said. “Every time they got a penalty, we buried it on them and that was the difference.”
In the third period, Cody Koskimaki and Cody Hodges added two extra goals to bring the Rampage’s tally to nine.
The Rampage the travelled to Williams Lake for the quick turnaround game against the Stampeders. Both teams started sluggish, with neither side scoring in the first period. The Stampeders game out aggressive in the second period, taking a 2-1 lead.
“They came hard at us in the second period,” Atchison said. “We held on more or less.”
Atchison said the players were able to find their legs in the third period, even taking a 3-2 lead in the third period behind goals from Dominick Hodges and Cody Koskimak, but Williams Lake was able to tie the game late and scored in overtime to get the win.
While they did not go perfect on the road trip, Atchison said the players performed at a high level.
“Not all of them got points, but all of them stepped up and played well,” he said.
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The Rampage return home on Dec. 9 for a game against Kitimat followed by matchup with Terrace on Dec. 16. Atchison said he expects both to be difficult games and hopes to see lots of fans come out to support the team.
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