A date with the lowly Surrey Knights proved to be the perfect recipe for success for the Mission City Outlaws on Sunday night.
The Outlaws won for the first time since Oct. 27 at the Mission Leisure Centre, disposing of the Pacific Junior Hockey League’s worst team 7-2.
Surrey opened the scoring at 11:59 of the first period, but Mission’s Zachary Valana tied the game 75 seconds later, and the teams ended the first period tied at one.
The Outlaws added goals from Dawson Campbell and a power play marker from Riley Merritt in the second period to lead 3-1 after 40 minutes.
Campbell completed the hat trick with two goals in the third, and Mission got another goal from Merritt and one from Nicholas Thomson.
Campbell had a breakout game for the Outlaws, collecting a total of six points. He now is second in team scoring with 13 points in 23 games played.
Also recording multi-point nights on Saturday were: Valana (one goal and three assists), Tristan Takats (three assists), Thomson (one goal and one assist) and Merritt (two goals).
Outlaws goalie Isaac Elias made 29 saves to record his fourth win on the season.
The win comes on the heels of a 7-2 loss to the Grandview Steelers at the MLC on Saturday.
Grandview led 3-1 after 20 minutes, with Valana scoring Mission’s lone first-period goal. Travis Trottier made it a 3-2 game midway through the second, but the Steelers scored a late goal and then added three more in the third to earn the win.
Mission’s penalty killing was off on Saturday, with the Steelers connecting three times with the man advantage. The Outlaws managed just 16 shots on goal, including a total of three in the third period.
The Outlaws also dropped a 13-4 decision to the Richmond Sockeyes on the road on Dec. 13.
The game was close after 20 minutes, with Mission’s Jordan Shaw opening the scoring and the Sockeyes tying it at one with a penalty shot.
The floodgates opened in the second period, with Richmond scoring five straight goals and Thomson scoring a late one to make it 6-2 after two.
The offence continued in the third, with Mission’s Jakob Mainhout and Justin Hargrave scoring goals sandwiched between seven more Sockeyes markers. Valana added a pair of helpers in a losing cause.
Mission goalie Andrew Edgecombe stopped 27 shots in the loss.
Last week’s results moved the Outlaws’ record to 8-21-3, and the team is fifth overall in the Harold Brittain conference and 11th overall in the league.
In other Outlaws news, forward Brendan Mongey has been suspended for 16 games due to receiving a match penalty combined with abuse of an official and a game misconduct in the last 10 minutes of the game. He was assessed those infractions on Dec. 10 against the White Rock Whalers.
The club hosted its second annual alumni game at the MLC on Sunday.
The game featured Outlaws players from the past and present taking to the ice, with all funds raised from the game going to seniors in the Mission community.
There were door prizes, a 50/50 draw, a jersey auction and more. The team has also been accepting donations at all home games this month for the Outlaws give-back campaign, which wrapped up at the game on Sunday.