Battling into a second overtime, the Terrace River Kings prevailed 6-5 against the Williams Lake Stampeders on Saturday night, Oct. 21.
The win put the Terrace boys at 3-1 for games played, ranking second in the Central Interior Hockey League (CIHL) just behind Quesnel, which has a 4-1 record.
The River Kings launched into Saturday’s home game with an early breakaway goal, scored by Luke Walker just 20 seconds into the first.
The second period saw Ben Reinbolt pick up a rebound from Steve Cullis, tipping the puck past the Stampeder goalie at 15 minutes to make it 2-0.
Williams Lake scored their first goal halfway through the second, but Colin Bell buried a pass from Ryan Roseboom just a few minutes later.
Williams Lake scored one more before the second period was up, putting the score at 3-2 going into the third.
The period saw the score jump back and forth, with the Stampeders tying up the score early on, but then Austin Legros flicking in a rebound to take back the lead 4-3.
But the Stampeders buried two shots near the middle of the third, to up the Stampeders up 5-4 with nine minutes left.
It was a hard fought few minutes, but Rajan Sanga managed to pick up the puck on the right side, deking out a defenceman and the goalie to nail an assisted goal and tie up the game 5-5.
No teams were able to score on the first overtime, and a second overtime followed as a 3-on-3.
Kenny Nordstrom took the puck to the net, and battled with the goalie, a defenceman and team mateSanga around the crease for several seconds, before he managed to flick it in and seal the win 6-5.
This was the second close game the River Kings have played against the Stampeders, with the first ending 5-4 for the Terrace team.
Coming up, the River Kings play in Prince Rupert next weekend, Saturday Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
After that they’ll play in Kitimat Nov. 3 and will be back on home ice again on Sunday, Nov. 4, playing the Prince Rupert Rampage.
For full schedule or league stats, go to pointstreak.com
