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Outlaws continue hot streak at home

Mission takes down North Vancouver on Saturday, improves record to 12-15-0-2.
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Aldergrove Kodiaks captain Eric Callegari scored the first goal in a 5-3 win over the Mission Outlaws on Dec. 14.

The Mission City Outlaws continued their strong run on home ice with a 4-2 win over the North Vancouver Wolf Pack on Saturday.

The Outlaws have now won four straight at the Mission Leisure Centre, and haven’t lost on home ice in over a month.

Saturday’s game saw Mission’s Justin Bowerman open the scoring at 9:34 of the first period with a shorthanded goal, but North Vancouver tied the game with eight seconds left in the period.

The teams traded goals again in the second period, with Matthew Mason tallying for the Outlaws.

Mission took over in the third period, with Jackson Waniek scoring the eventual game winner at 15:57. Michael Sande scored an empty-net goal to secure the win for the Outlaws.

Mission outshot the Wolf Pack 47-29, and Outlaws goalie Matthew Trulsen made 27 saves for his sixth win of the season.

The game ended the 15-game point scoring streak for Pacific Junior Hockey League leading scorer Baylee Wright, who has now recorded 51 points in 28 games this season.

Outlaws head coach Brad Veitch said his team deserved the win.

“I thought we played really well in the second period and just weren’t rewarded,” he told the Outlaws blog. “It was good to get the win. I loved that our workers controlled everything, gave us a lot of energy, a lot of zone time and were good defensively.”

The win comes off a 5-3 road loss to the Aldergrove Kodiaks on Dec. 14. The Kodiaks, ranked as the top team in the PJHL, built up a 3-1 lead on Mission after the first period and the Outlaws failed to come back.

Wright had a three-point night (two goals and one assist) and Nicolas Bizzutto scored the other goal for the Outlaws.

Mission’s record sits at 12 wins, 15 losses and two overtime losses, and they are now six points behind the third-place Ridge Meadows Flames in the Harold Brittain conference standings.

The Outlaws closed out the 2016 calendar with games on the road against the Wolf Pack on Wednesday and the Richmond Sockeyes on Thursday, but results were not available at press time.

Mission is also set to compete in the PJHL’s Winter Classic event in Richmond to kick off 2017.

The Outlaws take on the Port Moody Panthers on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m., and then play the Wolf Pack on Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. Both games occur at the Minoru Arena in Richmond.

The next home game for the Outlaws is on Jan. 7, when the Surrey Knights come to town.

Faceoff is set for 6:45 p.m. at the Mission Leisure Centre.