The Williams Lake Stampeders are back in first place in the Central Interior Hockey League East Division after splitting a pair of weekend games.
Saturday the Stampeders were in Houston taking on the Luckies, skating to a 3-2 overtime win.
Sunday, however, Williams Lake came out on the wrong side of a 7-4 score against last year’s league champions, the Smithers Steelheads.
Houston jumped out to an early two-goal lead Saturday as Shea Long and Brad Crump, on the power play, beat Williams Lake netminder Justin Foote.
Williams Lake, however, found its jets near the end of the second frame, where Matt Lees (2-0-2) put the Stampeders on the board, scoring on Luckies’ goaltender David Little with just 40 seconds left in the period.
Lees would later send the game to overtime at 13:26 of the third period, lighting the lamp on the power play to keep Williams Lake alive in the contest.
There, a costly penalty allowed Williams Lake’s Jassi Sangha (1-2-3) to capitalize on the Luckies for the game winner. Aaron Zurak (0-3-3) and David Gore (0-1-1) assisted on the game winning goal.
Sunday, however, the Stampeders’ 11-man roster caught up with the club, allowing the Steelheads to outshoot Williams Lake, 59-26, leading to the 7-4 defeat.
Scoring for Williams Lake Sunday were Stuart Sasges (1-1-2), Darcy Flaherty (1-0-1), Gore (1-2-3) and Lees (1-0-1).
Lighting the lamp for Smithers were Darryl Young (4-1-5), Ian Smith (1-3-4), Curt Dekens (1-0-1) and Kirk Meaver (1-0-1).
With two games remaining in the regular season Williams Lake sits one point ahead of the second-place Quesnel Kangaroos in the East Division with 11 wins, four losses and one overtime loss.
In the West the Terrace River Kings (11-4-1) are tied with Williams Lake for 23 points, two points ahead of the Steelheads (8-3-5).
Williams Lake heads to Quesnel this Saturday, Jan. 11, for a tilt that will likely decide who will take first place in the division. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. at the Twin Ice Arenas.
After that, Williams Lake hosts the Houston Luckies Jan. 19 for a makeup game from earlier in the season. Game time is 3:30 p.m. at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
