Update: Monday night, North Van won 5-4 in double overtime.
Langley Trappers are looking forward to playing on their roomier home rink tonight at George Preston Recreation Centre following two losses to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack in the PJHL championship final.
North Van took game one 4-0 on Friday, March 15, and followed it with a 3-1 win Saturday, March 16, both on Wolf Pack territory at the Harry Jerome Rec Centre – which happens to be smaller than regulation, according to Langley head coach Burt Henderson.
“It’s cramped,” Henderson said of the North Van playing surface.
“It’ll be nice to be back to our rink, back to what we know.”
Henderson praised goalie Kristian Lyon for withstanding a barrage from the Wolf Pack during both games.
“He made unreal, unbelievable saves that kept us in the game.,” Henderson said.
Friday, Lyon was named one of three stars of the game after stopping 38 of 42 shots, compared to the 31 faced by North Van goalie Niklas Hoem.
On Saturday, Lyon stopped 40 of 42 shots while his North Van rival blocked 25 of 26. Lyon was pulled with a minute left in the final period for the extra man advantage, and the Wolf Pack scored on the empty net.
Jaxon Orth scored the lone Trappers at 9:38 in the first period.
Nicholas Methorst, Aidan Bar-Lev-Wise and Dominic Davis scored for North Vancouver.
For their next appearances, the Trappers priority is to get their offensive game going, Henderson said.
“As a group, we have to figure out how to get past their ‘D,” he said.
Game three in the best-of-seven series goes Monday night at 7 p.m. at George Preston.
Game four is scheduled for Wednesday, March 20, also at George Preston at 7 p.m.
Trappers made the finals by battling back after falling behind twice against the defending champion Delta Ice Hawks, coming back from a three-goal deficit to take game five with a 5-4 final tally and secure a championship opportunity.
READ MORE: Trappers back to peak form
Langley Trappers Junior B hockey team started playing in 2017 as a member of the PJHL in the Harold Brittain Conference, becoming the 11th team in the league while the Delta Icehawks won the Cyclone Taylor Cup in 2006 and PJHL championships in 2001, 2006, 2012 and 2018.
Winner of the Langley-versus-North-Van final will go to the provincial championship and a shot at the Cyclone Taylor Cup.
