A dominant first period and a hat trick from Marcus Klarich led the Maple Ridge Burrards to a 10-5 win over the Langley Thunder on Sunday night.
Maple Ridge jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first period and never looked back.
The win puts the Burrards two points behind the Victoria Shamrocks for first place in the WLA standings. However, Victoria has two games in hand.
The Thunder’s woes continued as they were all but eliminated from playoff contention. Langley’s record dropped to 3-12 with three games left to play, while Nanaimo holds the final playoff spot at 8-8.
Marcus Klarich led the Burrards with three goals, while Garret Winter had three assists. Ries Bower and Carter Linkletter added two goals apiece.
In goal, Jack Kask was fantastic, stopping 45 of 50 shots for the win.
For Langley, Jake Govett and Dante Kulas each had two goals, while Alex Lemieux had a goal and an assist.
It was not a great night for Alex Buque between the pipes. He allowed five goals on 16 shots before being pulled in favour of Keegan Okino. Okino stopped 36 of 41 shots in relief.
First Period
Maple Ridge took complete control in the opening 20 minutes, scoring five unanswered goals.
Drew Andre opened the scoring at 5:41 before Klarich doubled the lead on the power play less than three minutes later.
Linkletter and Kaden Doughty scored just six seconds apart midway through the period, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Rhys Blake capped the offensive outburst at the 11:41 mark as the Burrards headed into the first intermission with a commanding 5-0 advantage. Kask stopped all 15 shots he faced in the period.
Second Period
Langley finally got on the board early in the second when Govett scored on the power play.
The Burrards answered in emphatic fashion with two shorthanded goals during the same penalty kill.
Bower struck first before Klarich added his second of the night just one minute later to extend the lead to 7-1.
Kulas scored on the power play for Langley to stop the run, but Linkletter restored the six-goal cushion with his second goal of the game.
Govett added his second goal late in the period, sending the teams to the dressing room with Maple Ridge leading 8-3.
Third Period
Bower opened the third period with his second goal of the night to make it 9-3 before Lemieux answered for the Thunder.
Marcus Klarich completed his hat trick at the 12:42 mark, finishing off a three-goal night and restoring the six-goal margin.
Kulas scored his second goal of the contest less than a minute later, but the Thunder couldn’t mount a comeback as the Burrards closed out the 10-5 victory.
Top Scorers
Maple Ridge Burrards
- Marcus Klarich, 3g
- Garret Winter, 3a
- Ries Bower, 2g
- Carter Linkletter, 2g
- Brandon Clelland, 2a
- Rhys Blake, 1g 1a
Langley Thunder
- Jake Govett, 2g
- Dante Kulas, 2g
- Alex Lemieux, 1g 1a
Three Stars
- Marcus Klarich, Maple Ridge Burrards
- Ries Bower, Maple Ridge Burrards
- Garret Winter, Maple Ridge Burrards
