The Aldergrove Kodiaks took a beating in their first period against Richmond Sockeyes Wednesday night that was impossible to recover from, despite their best efforts.
The visiting Sockeyes were up 8-0 in the first period, with five of those goals within the five minute penalty served by Kodiak Kyle Bosko for tripping in the final five minutes of the period.
The Sockeyes outshot the Kodiaks 16-6 in the first period but the Kodiaks turned the tables in the second, outshooting the Sockeyes 15-10, and scoring on three of the shots.
Scoring for the Kodiaks were Matt Oliver, Clayton Schroeder and Mathieu Melanson, with assists from Davin Padgham, Oliver, Cole Pisiak, Brendan Marfleet and Austin Cook.
The Kodiaks were unable to score on any of their eight power plays until the third period, when Kodiak Tyler Cannon scored, assisted by Matt Oliver and Nate Castonguay. Castonguay scored one more in the third to make it 12-5 for the Sockeyes, then the Sockeyes closed the scoring on a power play for a game total of 13-5 for the Sockeyes, a total of six goals on three power plays for the Sockeyes.
The shots on goal were 36-29 for the Sockeyes.
The result leaves the Kodiaks stalled at fifth place in the Harold Brittain conference, with 27 points after 36 games (12-21-1-2). That’s two points behind the Mission Outlaws and four points behind the Langley Trappers, although the Kodiaks have two games in hand on both teams.
The Kodiaks will still have to win most of the remaining eight games in the regular season to overtake the Outlaws or Trappers at this stage of the game.
The Kodiaks next face the North Vancouver Wolf Pack on Saturday, Jan. 20 and the next against the Grandview Steelers. Their next home game is Wednesday, Jan. 24, 7:15 p.m. against the Port Moody Panthers.
