Mitch Jones led the New Westminster Salmonbellies with nine points in a 17–9 victory over the Langley Thunder on Thursday night in WLA action.
Jones finished with five goals and four assists. Tye Kurtz followed with two goals and six assists for eight points.
Tyrell Hamer-Jackson was dominant on the faceoff dot, winning 23 of 28 draws for New Westminster.
‘Bellies Jump Out to Huge Lead
New Westminster jumped out to a 6–0 lead in the first period. Preston Lupul opened the scoring unassisted at 4:35. Will Malcom then found the back of the net at 9:54.
The Salmonbellies made it 3–0 at the 12:42 mark with a goal from Logan Schuss. Ryan Martel extended the lead just under a minute later.
Mitch Jones scored his first of the game at 16:42 and added another on the power play with 2:56 left, giving New Westminster a 6–0 lead after one.
Thunder Get on the Board
Haiden Dickson opened the second-period scoring 3:09 in, extending New Westminster’s lead to 7–0.
The Thunder finally got on the board at 3:52, with Evan Messenger scoring unassisted.
However, the celebration was short-lived. Mitch Jones completed his hat trick at 4:26 off a feed from Ryan Martel, making it 8–1.
Langley responded with a two-goal run. Chase Scanlan scored on the power play at 5:23, and Kyle Brunsch added another at 6:14 to cut the lead to 8–3.
New Westminster quickly regained momentum. Tyler Pace scored unassisted at 6:37, followed by another unassisted goal from Jones at 7:06 to make it 10–3.
Langley chipped away again late in the period. Toru Morimatsu scored at 12:03, and Ben Vanderkley added one at 16:52 to make it 10–5.
Will Malcom scored on the power play with 2:30 left, and Haiden Dickson added a transition goal with 1:27 on the clock. New Westminster led 12–5 at the second intermission.
Deficit Too Much to Overcome for Langley
New Westminster struck first in the third period with a power-play goal from Tye Kurtz at 3:57.
Chase Scanlan scored twice for Langley in quick succession—at 4:44 and again unassisted at 5:43—making it 13–7.
Mitch Jones answered at 6:54 to restore a seven-goal lead, but Scanlan completed his hat trick just 48 seconds later at 7:42.
The back-and-forth continued. Ryan Martel scored at 12:58 for New Westminster, but Langley’s Finn Hallady replied off a feed from Liam Ronan at 14:10, cutting the deficit to 15–9.
New Westminster closed out the scoring with two power-play goals: Will Malcom scored with 4:17 left, and Kurtz added another just 29 seconds later to make the final 17–9.
Top Scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Mitch Jones, 5g 4a
- Tye Kurtz, 2g 6a
- Will Malcom, 3g 4a
Langley Thunder
- Chase Scanlan, 4g 2a
- Connor Robinson, 3a
- Toru Morimatsu, 1g 1a
Three Stars
- Tye Kurtz, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Mitch Jones, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Chase Scanlon, Langley Thunder.
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