A Noah Armitage nine-point night powered the New Westminster Salmonbellies to a 14-8 win over the Langley Thunder on Thursday night in WLA action.
Armitage finished with four goals and five assists for nine points, while Dylan McIntosh scored five times as the Salmonbellies controlled play for much of the night.
New Westminster outshot Langley 64-41 in the victory.
Connor Robinson led the Thunder offensively with a hat trick and an assist. Jon Phillips added two goals, while Nathaniel Kozevnikov, Carson Forney and Dante Kulas also found the back of the net.
First Period
The Salmonbellies jumped out to an early lead with Armitage opening the scoring at the 3:33 mark before Toru Morimatsu doubled the advantage just over a minute later.
Langley answered with a shorthanded goal from Jon Phillips at 7:01 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
McIntosh restored New Westminster’s two-goal cushion midway through the period before Forney brought the Thunder back within one at 3-2 with 2:27 remaining.
Will Mackay scored with 1:42 left in the opening frame to give the Salmonbellies a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes.
Second Period
New Westminster seized control early in the second.
Armitage scored just 1:31 into the period before McIntosh struck twice in 35 seconds to extend the Salmonbellies’ lead to 7-2.
The Thunder refused to go away. Kozevnikov and Phillips scored 22 seconds apart before Robinson added back-to-back goals to trim the deficit to 8-6.
Each time Langley gained momentum, the Salmonbellies responded.
McIntosh scored twice on the power play to complete his five-goal night, while Armitage added another late in the period.
Dante Kulas scored for Langley between the New Westminster goals, but the Salmonbellies carried a 10-7 lead into the third.
Third Period
The Salmonbellies quickly put the game out of reach.
Mackay scored on the power play less than two minutes into the period before Dalton Lupul made it 12-7 just over a minute later.
Robinson completed his hat trick at 15:59 to give Langley its lone goal of the final frame.
Conrad Squarek added an empty-net goal before Armitage capped off his dominant night with his fourth goal of the game in the final minute to seal the 14-8 victory.
The game became increasingly physical over the final two periods.
Thunder forward Temeke Gottfriedsen was assessed a spearing major and game misconduct late in the second period, while Evan Pattison received a fighting major and game misconduct early in the third.
In the closing moments of the game, Thunder goaltender Frank Scigliano was assessed a roughing major and game misconduct, while Kulas received a misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Top Scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Noah Armitage — 4g, 5a
- Will MacKay — 2g, 4a
- Dylan McIntosh — 5g
Langley Thunder
- Connor Robinson — 3g, 1a
- Dante Kulas — 1g, 2a
- Nathaniel Leroux — 3a
Three Stars
- Noah Armitage, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Dylan McIntosh, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Connor Robinson, Langley Thunder
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