The Langley Rivermen returned from a two-day visit to Prince George with three of a possible four points against the co-leaders of the BCHL’s Mainland Division.
The Rivermen blanked the host Prince George Spruce Kings 2-0 on Oct. 9 behind a 39-save performance from Bo Didur.
And the next night, again at the Prince George Coliseum, Langley captain Kevan Kilistoff’s second goal of the game — and third point — earned the Rivermen at least a single point.
Kilistoff scored on the power play with less than a minute to play. He also opened the scoring in the first minute of play.
“We felt like we battled back in the last minute to tie it up,” said Langley associate coach Jon Calvano.
“We had some moments in the game where we didn’t have any push and we paid for that in overtime.”
Prince George’s Chad Staley scored his second of the game 2:35 into overtime for the 4-3 victory.
Will Cook had the other Langley goal while for Prince George, Justin Rai scored his league-leading ninth and Braiden Epp had the other.
In the first game between the two junior A hockey clubs, Brendan Gulka and Hunter Anderson scored on consecutive shots 1:40 apart in the second period.
“Our line played really well tonight,” Anderson said. “I got a feed right in the middle and just put it home.
“It felt good to finally get on the score sheet.”
It was Anderson’s first goal of the season, with Ryan Coulter and Dante Hahn picking up the helpers.
Gulka’s goal was his team-leading fourth — tied with Kilistoff— with Gage Torrel getting the lone assist. Torrel leads the Rivermen with eight points in eight games.
And the two goals would be more than enough offence for Didur who stopped every Prince George attempt at a goal.
It was his first career BCHL shutout.
The Spruce Kings out-shot the Rivermen 39-24.
“Bo was outstanding,” said Langley assistant coach Kurt Astle.
“We went through a couple of lulls where he made some key saves to keep the momentum and kept us in the game.”
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Langley, as the Rivermen had lost in overtime and in regulation their past two games.
“We’ve been harping on playing a full 60 minutes and this is as close as it gets for us this season,” said Astle.
“Our defence really dictated the play — we got pucks out early, go them to the forwards and our team defence was great.”
Prince George (6-2-0-1) is now tied atop the Mainland Division with 13 points while Langley (3-3-0-2) is third at eight points.
“We’ve played eight games so far and we’ve seen the good things and a lot of things we need to work on, but it’s a long season ahead of us,” Calvano said.
The Rivermen are back in action when they host the Surrey Eagles on Oct. 15 at the Langley Events Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
