Two wins in three tries — under difficult circumstances — helped the Langley Rivermen close out the month of November with an above-.500 record.
The junior A hockey club was missing its top two goaltenders as they played three games in a span of less than 72 hours, coming away with a pair of victories to finish the month of 5-4-0-1, the team’s first above-.500 month.
Langley improved to 10-13-3-2 and their 25 points have them in fourth place in the BCHL’s Mainland Division.
The Rivermen doubled the West Kelowna Warriors 4-2 on Friday night and rallied from behind for a 7-5 win over the Surrey Eagles the next night. Playing the Vernon Vipers on Sunday afternoon, Langley found itself on the wrong-end of a 4-1 score.
All three games were at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
“Obviously you want six (points) every weekend but I thought we fortunate to get some good goaltending all three games,” said Rivermen head coach Bobby Henderson. “Our guys played pretty solid all weekend.”
The Rivermen picked up the four points using a pair of affiliate players in goal because of injury.
Bradley Cooper stopped 33 shots against the Warriors and followed that up with a 35-save performance in the victory over the Eagles.
Chad Cromar got the call on Sunday and stopped 31 of 34 shots.
The Rivermen fell behind 3-0 after 40 minutes against Vernon with Ryan Barrow finally getting the home side on the board with 75 seconds to play. The Vipers sealed it with an empty-net goal.
Despite playing their third game in as many days, Henderson was happy with his team’s energy and pace.
“We ran into a hot guy and a team that does a good job of clogging up the middle of the ice.
“We just couldn’t generate too much offence; give (Vernon) full credit, they played a pretty good road game.”
The loss came on the heels of a wild game against the Eagles with the teams combining for nine goals in the opening frame. The Rivermen fell behind 5-3 midway through the second but scored twice to tie things up before intermission.
Cameron Ginnetti potted the winner with nine minutes to play and Cooper Leitch scored into the empty net for the 7-5 win.
Barrow led the way with two goals while Leitch and McKay Flanagan each had a goal and two helpers. Gavin Payne (one goal, one assist) and Sean Gulka (one goal) rounded out the scoring.
Friday’s victory saw Langley never trail.
Eric Butte scored twice while Nicholas Ponak and John Schuldt had the other goals.
“I thought we played a real fast game. Defensively, we were good and got some phenomenal goaltending,” Henderson said.
The Rivermen are back in action on Friday when they visit the Coquitlam Express.
On the goaltending front, Henderson said he expects No. 1 netminder Bo Didur back next week while Braedon Fleming hopefully returning the following week.
