PORT McNEILL—Reed Allen scored on a point-blank rebound with 16.5 seconds remaining Sunday as the Port McNeill Mustangs forged a 4-4 tie with the Port Hardy Bulls to remain unbeaten in North Island Commercial Hockey League play.
It was the second straight home draw with the Bulls for The Mustangs (11-0-3), who were skating 6-on-5 when Allen scored after pulling goalie Aaron Hinton with 1:14 to play.
The Bulls (3-13-2) took a 3-2 intermission lead behind consecutive goals by Curtis Martyn, and extended it to 4-2 at 2:51 of the final period when Steve Verbrugge converted off a crossing pass from Chad Mackenzie.
The Mustangs kept up pressure in the Bulls’ zone throughout the period but ran into stiff defence and goaltending. John Murgatroyd finally got the rally going when he walked the puck through the slot and wristed a shot home from the right circle to cut the Bulls lead to 3-2 with 6:45 remaining.
It was the second goal of the game for Murgatroyd, who tallied on a first-period breakaway to give the Mustangs a brief 2-1 lead before Martyn’s back-to-back scores.
Al Rushton punched in his own rebound on the first possession of the game to give the Mustangs a quick 1-0 advantage. But the visitors, playing with just one spare line and a single blueliner on the bench, effectively repelled the Mustangs’ attack thereafter.
The Mustangs kicked off the weekend with a victory over the Neucel Islanders in Port Alice. No details were available.
Warriors 14, Bulls 3
Shelby Cockell scored six goals as the Warriors (9-8-1) broke open a close game in the second half Friday in Port Hardy.
Jared Breitkreitz, Jake Colbourne and Corey Swain added two goals each, with Swain contributing seven assists.
Shawn Patterson, Richard Burgess and Justin Reusch scored for the Bulls, who were within 3-1 at the end of the first period.
B League
Albert Charlie scored six goals Saturday as the Smokers topped the Soggy Bottom Boys 14-10 in Port Hardy. The Smokers overcame the biggest scoring output to date by the Soggy Bottom Boys, the newest entry into the recreational league.
One week earlier, the Stars defeated the Soggy Bottom Boys 15-1.
