Home ice didn’t prove to be much of an advantage for the Mission City Outlaws during the club’s home opener on Saturday.
The Delta Ice Hawks scored early and often, en route to a 10-2 drubbing of the Outlaws at the Mission Leisure Centre.
Delta scored two goals in the first 2:33 of action, but the Outlaws responded when Andrew Berkelaar made it a one-goal game. The Ice Hawks went back up by two later in the period, but Brayden Durante connected on the power play to make it 3-2 after one.
The final two periods were all Ice Hawks, as Delta scored three in the second and five in the third to skate away with the win.
Penalty killing was an issue for Mission, as they allowed four goals on nine chances and were out shot 55-32 in the loss. Chase Heslop, Conner Jollymore, Rylun McCabe and Brenden Saether all picked up assists in a losing cause.
Outlaws goalie Mitchell Davis was charged with the loss, allowing five goals on 22 shots. Keaton Dyck, who came on in relief in the second period, allowed five goals on 33 shots.
After the game, Durante said things should be fine once the teams develops some chemistry.
“Personally I feel we just have to get our game going,” he said. “We have a really young squad, and we need a few games to gel and find some chemistry. It is such a big part of the game, knowing the guys you are playing with.”
Saturday’s setback comes after a 5-3 loss in the club’s Pacific Junior Hockey League season opener against the Aldergrove Kodiaks on Sept. 6.
The two teams played to a 2-2 tie after twenty minutes, with Mission’s Kyle Mooney and Tate Roulette scoring back-to-back goals between a pair of Kodiaks markers.
Aldergrove ran away with the game in the second period, scoring three goals, with Durante scoring on the power play for Mission. Neither team scored a goal in the third to make it a 5-3 final.
Conner Jollymore, Justin Hargrave, Brendan Black and Haydn Downing recorded assists, while goalie Keaton Dyck made 40 saves in the loss.
The Outlaws returned to action on Thursday night against the Surrey Knights, but results were not available at press time. Mission then hosts the Richmond Sockeyes at the MLC on Saturday at 6:45 p.m.
For more on the team, visit missioncityoutlaws.com.