The Mission City Outlaws dropped two of three games this past week to fall to 17-10 on the season. The Outlaws had their six-game win streak snapped in a 4-2 loss to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack on Saturday, bounced back with a 4-2 win over the Chilliwack Jets on Sunday and rounded out the week with a 3-1 loss to the White Rock Whalers at home on Tuesday.
“We could have won all three games,” Outlaws’ head coach Brad Veitch said. “We were just a bounce away from tying in two losses. I’m happy with the effort and we’re looking forward to hopefully getting healthy in coming weeks.”
The Outlaws sit third in the PJHL’s Harold Brittain Conference standings with 34 points, behind the Ridge Meadows Flames and Langley Trappers. They currently have three forwards out of the lineup with injuries.
On Saturday night (Dec. 3), a stretch of six consecutive wins came to an end with a 4-2 loss to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack. JJ Pickell opened the scoring for North Vancouver at Harry Jerome Arena just over two minutes into the game with his 23rd goal of the season. Kyle Sackmann tied the game in the second period with his ninth, however, Baron Trevor broke the tie once again with six and a half minutes left in the period.
In the third period, Tanner Terness extended the Wolf Pack’s lead to 3-1. Cole Moffat scored less than a minute later to cut the lead in half but the Outlaws couldn’t complete the comeback. Ryan Hunter iced the game with 40 seconds remaining for the Wolf Pack to end Mission’s streak. The Outlaws out-shot North Vancouver 34-31, but Charlie Tritt stopped 32 shots to lead the Wolf Pack to victory.
Mission got back on track against the Chilliwack Jets at Sardis Sports Complex on Sunday. Chase Newman opened the scoring just over three minutes in with an unassisted goal. Newman assisted on Owen Elson’s goal later in the period to give Mission a 2-0 lead heading into the second. Brayden Chenier extended the Outlaws’ lead to 3-0 before Zack Feaver and Brendan Williamson scored just 25 seconds apart for Chilliwack to make it a one goal game. However, Elson scored shorthanded for his second of the game in the third period to clinch a 4-2 victory for Mission. The Jets out-shot the Outlaws 45-33, but Brian Dale made 43 saves to power Mission to victory.
The Outlaws returned home to Mission Leisure Centre on Tuesday night for a matchup with the White Rock Whalers. Newman opened the scoring at the 6:26 mark of the first period but Zachary Sherwin tied the game for the Whalers with less than a minute remaining in the frame. Kazuya Yamazaki found goal early in the second and David Moody iced the game with an empty-netter in the third to give White Rock a 3-1 road win. Max Fowle turned aside 30 of 32 shots faced while Mark Paton made 29 saves for the Whalers and was named third star.
The Outlaws host the Aldergrove Kodiaks on Saturday night (Dec. 10) at the Mission Leisure Centre before hitting the road to face the White Rock Whalers on Monday in a rematch of this week’s contest.