For the first time in close to a month, the North Delta Devils have lost a hockey game.
The Devils dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack back on Nov. 23 at the Harry Jerome Rec Centre in North Vancouver. Playing in the same rink Monday night, while on a seven-game win streak, the Devils again faced the Wolf Pack and fell 6-2.
North Delta had a 2-1 lead midway through the Pacific International Junior Hockey League contest, with Adam Nishi and Manuveer Mahil scoring powerplay goals 28 seconds apart to erase a 1-0 North Vancouver lead after 20 minutes.
But just 61 seconds after Mahil tallied the go-ahead goal, the Wolf Pack drew even again. Then, despite getting outshot 17-11 in the final frame, the home side scored four unanswered goals.
The two sides met again last night (Wednesday) at the Sungod Arena, where the Devils won 1-0. Stephen Campbell scored the game’s lone goal midway through the second period, and Harry Fredeman stopped 29 shots for his second shutout of the season.
The loss Monday came two days after the Devils had won their seventh straight.
For more than 59 minutes, it seemed as though a six-game win streak would come to an end. But the Devils rallied from a three-goal deficit to edge the Grandview Steelers 4-3 in overtime at the Sungod Arena.
The best team in the Junior B league over the past 10 games, the Devils surrendered a pair of powerplay goals and fell behind 3-0 by the time the game was 22 minutes old.
North Delta shut out the Steelers the rest of the way, getting a goal from Stefan Burzan late in the second period, then dominating play in the third period.
With less than three minutes to play, Grandview was clinging to a 3-1 lead when Nishi forced overtime with two quick goals. He pulled the home side to within one with two minutes to go, then tied the game with a shorthanded effort with just eight seconds to play.
Burzan netted the winner after four minutes of overtime.
After playing .500 hockey through the first 18 games of the schedule, North Delta is now 14-8-4 (won-loss-overtime loss). In third place in the Tom Shaw Conference, the Devils trail the Delta Ice Hawks by eight points.
