The New Westminster Salmonbellies ended their regular season on a winning note with a 9-2 victory over the Langley Thunder on Thursday night.
New Westminster’s win sets up an exciting scenario for the final game of the season on Saturday between the Victoria Shamrocks and Coquitlam Adanacs.
The winner of Saturday’s game will finish in first place. If Victoria wins, Coquitlam will finish second and hold home-floor advantage against New Westminster in the first round of the playoffs.
However, if Coquitlam wins, Victoria will drop to third place, one point behind New Westminster, giving the Salmonbellies home-floor advantage.
As for Langley, it was a season to forget. They finished out of the playoffs with a 5-13 record and scored 10 or more goals in only five games this season.
Thunder Shut Out in the First
New Westminster goaltender Justin Geddie stopped all 18 shots he faced in the first period as the Salmonbellies jumped out to a 4-0 lead.
Haiden Dickson opened the scoring just 28 seconds into the game. Jacob Ruest made it 2-0 at the 1:11 mark.
Mitch Jones added another at 4:03, and Will Malcom capped the first-period scoring with 7:55 left to give New Westminster an early four-goal advantage.
Langley Gets on the Board
The Thunder broke the shutout 4:53 into the second period when Jon Phillips found the back of the net. However, their offence dried up quickly.
Jeff Cornwall scored at 8:16, followed by Jones just 12 seconds later, as the Salmonbellies extended their lead to 6-1 after two periods.
Ending on a Winning Note
New Westminster put the game away in the third, allowing only one more goal from the Thunder.
Malcom scored on the power play at 1:52, and Ben Soenen converted off a Dickson feed at 4:26 to make it 8-1.
Nathaniel Kozevnikov scored Langley’s second goal at 7:08, but that was all the offence the Thunder could muster.
Adam Wiedemann rounded out the scoring as the Salmonbellies finished the regular season on a winning note with a 9-2 victory.
Top Scorers
New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Mitch Jones, 2g 3a
- Will Malcom, 2g 2a
- Haiden Dickson, 1g 2a
Langley Thunder
- Chase Scanlan, 2a
- Nathaniel Kozevnikov, 1g
- Jon Phillips, 1g
- Evan Messenger, 1a
- Ethan M’Lot, 1a
Three Stars
- Justin Geddie, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Mitch Jones, New Westminster Salmonbellies
- Ben Soenen, New Westminster Salmonbellies
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