The Burnaby Lakers won their first game of the 2026 WLA season on Friday night, beating the New Westminster Salmonbellies 8-5 at Bill Copeland Arena. The Lakers came into the game with a record of 0-5, including a 13-6 loss to New Westminster in Week 1, and a 10-5 loss to the Salmonbellies in Week 3. Burnaby goaltender Marc Rippberger earned 1st Star of the Game honors, stopping 31 of 36 shots on the night. 2nd Star went to Will Malcom (1g, 2a) of New Westminster, and Andrew Cowan (1g, 2a) of the Lakers was named 3rd Star of the Game.
Burnaby took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Jake Young (3:35) and Kordell Primus (6:44). Noah Armitage scored on a power play (10:42) to cut the lead in half. But the Lakers responded with power play goals from Ryan Favaro (14:38) and Cowan (17:27) for a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. In the second period, the Salmonbellies cut the lead to 4-3 on goals from Malcom (8:50) and Lukas Nielsen (15:48). Burnaby was shut out of the period despite taking 15 shots on goal.
Burnaby gets first win as Rippberger holds New West to five goals
New Westminster tied the game early in the third period on a goal from Owen Rahn (1:27). However, Young (2:23) and Butch La Roue (2:30) scored seven seconds apart to put the Lakers up 6-4, and Ben Stewart (14:22) extended the Lakers’ lead to 7-4. With time winding down and an extra attacker on the floor, Armitage netted his second for the Salmonbellies (19:04) to make it a two-goal game. But Justyn Gurney scored an empty-net goal 17 seconds later for Burnaby to close out the 8-5 victory.
New Westminster goaltender Ashton Leclair made 38 saves in the loss, as Burnaby outshot the Salmonbellies 46-36. Tyson Johnson won 10 of 16 faceoffs for the Lakers, and Finn Halladay added two assists. Burnaby visits Maple Ridge on Sunday, then hosts Nanaimo in Week 5. New Westminster plays at Nanaimo Saturday night, then hosts Victoria in a key matchup in Week 5.
