The Chilliwack Chiefs owned the shot-clock but not the scoreboard, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Langley Rivermen Saturday night at Prospera Centre.
Matty Saharchuk’s overtime winner gave Langley a sweep of the weekend home-and-home, despite his team being out-shot 47-27.
The Rivermen improved to 5-2-0-0 in early season. The Chiefs slipped back to .500 at 3-3-1-2.
In a tight checking game with scarcely an open inch of ice to be had, Langley’s Justin Fregona opened the scoring at 2:51 of period two.
But with the Rivermen’s William Campion in the box at 11:07, Vimal Sukumaran got his team even. The team’s top goal scorer took a feed from Dennis Cholowski and, from the left faceoff dot, ripped a top-shelf short-side shot over the shoulder of Langley keeper Nickolas Trenciansky.
Chilliwack’s leading goal scorer, with nine, appeared to stare down the Langley bench as he celebrated.
A few shifts later the feisty forward was fortunate to avoid the sin bin when he hammered Adam Sinclair into the boards with a hit that could have been deemed ‘from behind.’
Sukumaran and company escaped to the third period in a 1-1 tie, then took the lead 4:52 into the final frame.
Jesse Lansdell scored the go-ahead goal, set up by Kohen Olischefski. The rookie wheeled and fired a shot from the slot that missed wide left. But it took a Chiefs bounce off the end boards, rattling back in front for Lansdell to pop past Trenciansky.
Langley got a chance to tie with five minutes remaining when Eric Benshadle was flagged for hooking. On the power play, Dominic Franco beat Chilliwack stopper Aidan Pelino with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle to send this game to overtime.
Saharchuk put it away with 47.3 seconds remaining in three-on-three OT.
The 20 year old Fort St. James native won a footrace with Chillliwack’s Carter Cochrane and put a shot over Pelino’s glove. Saharchuk was mobbed by his teammates like they’d won the Stanley Cup, as the Chiefs quietly retreated from the ice.
The Fortis BC Energy Player of the Game was Chilliwack’s Linden Hora.
The three stars were Treciansky (first) Lansdell (second) and Sukumaran (third).
