The Smithers Steelheads played back-to-back games dropping the first game and winning the second on the road last weekend.
The first of two weekend games on Saturday night saw the Steelheads face off against the Lac La Hache Tomahawks.
Houston’s Cole Hasell scored the team’s lone goal of the night.
Despite the 6-1 loss, forward Randall Groot, who had a helper on the goal from Hasell, believes the game should have been a lot closer.
“They have a really big rink there and it’s really tough to play,” said Groot.
“There’s no glass on one side and a lot of funny bounces and we didn’t score on our chances there. It was a lot closer of a game than the score suggests.”
The team registered 31 shots on net.
Recent Burns Lake aquisition David Little was in goal for the first time and stopped 30 of 36 shots throughout the night.
The team was also only playing with two forward lines instead of three, which began to take a toll on players.
Putting a disappointing loss behind them and with more players able to suit up, the Steelheads took on the Quesnel Kangaroos, picking up their first win of the season 7-4 Sunday afternoon.
“We started scoring on our chances finally and our goalie played very well,” said Groot.
“We played really good in the defensive zone and had a lot of good saves from our goalie and just shot the puck from high-percentage spots and scored on our chances.”
The team received an offensive boost from rookie centre Brendan Devries who scored his first hat trick in the Central Interior Hockey League.
“It feels good. I got a good pass from my brother Adam again and I threw it on net. Their D-man was screenin. . . and the goalie didn’t see it and it went in gloveside,” said Devries, adding that he was glad to make up for his lack of scoring the previous night.
His brother Adam also picked up a goal and Cole Hasell scored twice.
Groot said the key to their success is simple: start scoring.
“We have to start scoring if we’re going to win games,” he said.
The Steelheads currently sit fourth in the CIHL with a record of 1-2.
Their first home game is this Saturday at the Smithers Civic Arena. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m against the Terrace River Kings.
Groot said the team is excited to play on familiar ice.
“We’re looking forward to finally playing at home and hopefully get a good turnout,” he said.
