Ryan Martel scored the game-winning goal with two minutes left as the New Westminster Salmonbellies picked up a 10-9 win over the Burnaby Lakers.
The Lakers gave the Salmonbellies a run for their money, holding a 4-3 lead after the first period. But a big second period gave New Westminster an 8-5 advantage heading into the third.
Silas Richmond tied the game on the power play late in the third, but Martel came through with the decisive goal.
The Salmonbellies have now won six straight games to open the WLA season.
Leading the way for New Westminster were Mitch Jones with a hat trick and three assists, and Haiden Dickson with two goals and four assists. Ashton Leclair got the start in goal for the Salmonbellies, stopping 43 of 52 shots.
For Burnaby, Richmond and Ben McDonald each had three goals and two assists, while Thomas Vela added a goal and four assists. Keegan Melenychuk and Marc Russell Rippberger split time in goal. Melenychuk stopped 19 of 26 shots in 23:06 of play, while Russell Rippberger turned aside 17 of 20.
Lakers Get Off to a Quick Start
Burnaby jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the game. Vela opened the scoring with an unassisted marker 57 seconds in. Lucas Parsons-Quintiao followed with a shorthanded goal at 3:34.
New Westminster bounced back with a two-goal run. Jacob Ruest scored on the power play at the four-minute mark, and Dickson tied it 43 seconds later.
The Lakers restored their two-goal lead with power-play goals from McDonald at 6:27 and Richmond at 11:06.
Ruest scored shorthanded with eight seconds left in the period to cut the deficit to 4-3 heading into the intermission.
Big Second Period for New Westminster
Ruest’s late goal in the first was the start of a five-goal run by New Westminster, with five different goal scorers.
Austin Taggart tied the game 39 seconds into the second period. Brandon Goodwin gave New Westminster the lead at 1:26, followed by Jones at 3:04 and Dickson 21 seconds later.
Parsons-Quintiao scored for Burnaby at 7:50 to make it 7-5, but Jones added his second of the night with 9:47 left to make it 8-5 after two.
Martel the Hero for New Westminster
Burnaby opened the third with a three-goal run to pull even.
McDonald scored 4:55 into the period, Richmond followed on the power play at 5:37, and McDonald tied it at 6:08.
Jones scored his hat-trick goal on the power play at 8:07 to restore the Salmonbellies’ lead, but Richmond tied it again with 7:59 remaining, finishing off a feed from McDonald.
Martel netted the winner with two minutes left to seal New Westminster’s sixth straight win, 10-9.
Top Scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Mitch Jones — 3G, 3A
- Haiden Dickson — 2G, 4A
- Jacob Ruest — 2G, 2A
- Ryan Martel — 1G, 3A
Burnaby Lakers
- Silas Richmond — 3G, 2A
- Ben McDonald — 3G, 2A
- Thomas Vela — 1G, 4A
Three Stars
- Haiden Dickson, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Silas Richmond, Burnaby Lakers
- Ryan Martel, New Westminster Salmonbellies
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