Ben Lypka
Abbotsford News
With the 2016 calendar set to expire, the Mission City Outlaws seem to be heating up.
The Pacific Junior Hockey League club ran its winning streak to three games, after picking up a pair of wins over the Ridge Meadows Flames and Abbotsford Pilots over the weekend.
The Outlaws travelled to Maple Ridge on Friday and opened up a 3-0 lead after two periods to earn the 3-1 win over the Flames.
Kyle Mooney opened the scoring in the first period, with Baylee Wright scoring twice in the second period. Wright was involved in all three Outlaws goals in the game. The Flames tallied in the third period to break the shutout bid for Matthew Trulsen, who stopped 41 shots.
Outlaws forward Michal Holub drew assists on all three Outlaws goals to earn the first star of the game honours. Mission went one-for-three on the power play and killed all five penalties they were assessed in the game.
The club returned to the friendly confines of the Mission Leisure Centre on Saturday, but fell behind 4-0 to the Pilots just 13 minutes into the game. Outlaws goalie Keaton Dyck was yanked after the third goal. Jackson Waniek got the Outlaws on the board late in the first.
Mission chipped away at the lead in the second, with captain Ryan Sharma making it 4-2, and the Outlaws roared back to tie the game in the third with goals from Justin Bowerman and Sammy Zeinab.
Sharma then scored the game-winning goal in overtime to complete the impressive comeback and give Mission the 5-4 overtime win. The game was again penalty filled, with 70 minutes doled out. Mission went one-for-six on the power play, and again killed all five penalties.
Trulsen picked up the win and stopped all 28 shots he faced after entering the game at around the 13-minute mark. Outlaws head coach Brad Veitch said his goalie helped the team climb back into the game.
“I thought after the first five minutes, he was zoned in,” he told the Outlaws blog. “He made some huge saves for us. We knew we couldn’t allow another one and he shut the door the rest of the way and allowed us to battle back.”
The Outlaws are now just four points out of third place in the Harold Brittain conference, and sport a record of 10 wins, 13 losses and two overtime losses.
Mission next hosts the Flames on Saturday. Faceoff is set for 6:45 p.m. at the Mission Leisure Centre.