The Langley Rivermen overcame a pair of poor starts to boast back-to-back weekend victories.
The Rivermen defeated the Westside Warriors 6-3 on Friday and the Vernon Vipers 5-2 on Saturday in junior A B.C. Hockey League action. Both games were at the Langley Events Centre.
In the first game, Langley found itself down 2-0 after the opening minute with Westside getting goals from Travis Blaniel and Alex Krause.
But Mike Tebbutt and Chris Tracy scored to bring the Rivermen on even terms. And the pair struck again early in the second, with goals 60 seconds apart, before Mario Puskarich made it 5-2 with the Rivermen’s third goal in 2:35.
Westside’s Izaak Berglund made it 5-3 prior to intermission and the Rivermen’s Derek Sutliffe closed the scoring in the third.
Darnell Dyck, Tebbutt and Tracy finished with three points apiece, while James Barr finished with 34 saves, including a penalty shot stop in the third.
The Vipers opened the scoring on Saturday with a power play goal from Aaron Hadley but Dyck got that one back with a man-advantage goal of his own.
Ryan Renz put Vernon ahead 2-1 in the second, but again it was Dyck scoring a power-play goal to pull Langley even.
And the Rivermen took control in the third with a three-goal outburst, including two goals in a nine-second span.
Tebbutt scored the winner, while new addition Patrick Martens scored his first in a Langley uniform. Thomas Nitsche had the final goal.
Dyck and Tebbutt both finished the weekend with six points apiece.
Jim Kruger finished with 37 saves.
The Rivermen (8-13-0-0) are in Coquitlam for a game against the Express on Friday before completing the home-and-home series with the Express on Saturday at the LEC. Langley also has a home game on Sunday afternoon against the Powell River Kings.
