Lakers Get in the Win Column

The Langley Thunder looked to stay on winning terms on the road when they faced off against the Burnaby Lakers at the Bill Copeland Arena. The Thunder won their season opener 11-9 against the Port Coquitlam Saints, while the Lakers look to get in the win column after losing their first two games to the Delta Islanders and Port Coquitlam Saints.

The first period was mainly dominated by the Thunder. The Thunder got off to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Dayton Mcintosh and Thomas Moffat in the first four minutes of the game. The Thunder extended their lead to 3-0 when Mcintosh netted his second of the game shorthanded and with that, the Lakers made a goalie change as Steven Mayervich took over, but Mayervich didn’t get off to a good start as the Thunder took a 4-0 lead before the seven-minute mark of the first period.

The Lakers finally got on the board when Adam Wagner beat Thunder goaltender Jake Sundar to make it 4-1, but minutes later, Moffat caught Mayervich off guard as he just threw the ball on net from out far and made it 5-1 Thunder.

The Lakers seemed to have woken up in the last six minutes of the first period. Tyler Kirkby scored with 5:33 remaining, a fight between Lakers’ Nick Kapusty and Thunder’s Tyler Rutherford went down in which they were both ejected and Aidan Milburn scored with 2:51 left in the first period to cut the Thunder’s lead to 5-3 heading into the second period.

The second period was a lot like the first period in terms of goals, but this time, it was the Lakers who dominated. Milburn and Nick Jensen netted goals 32 seconds apart from each other early in the second period which made it 5-5 on the scoreboard.

Moffat scored his third of the game half way through the second period to give the Thunder the lead again, but it was the Milburn show shortly after as he scored his third and fourth of the game 22 seconds apart to give the Lakers their first lead of the game. With a minute left in the second period, Kirkby extended the Lakers lead to 2 heading into the third period.

Things got a bit heated early in the third period with Jordan Hara and Alex Gibbs, but it was the Lakers who took control of the third period. Almost at the halfway point of the third, Justin Appels made it 9-6 and if there was anyone on the Lakers to put the game away, it was Milburn and he did just that with less than 9 minutes to go in the game to make it 10-6 Lakers.

Appels and Corey Wong added a goal each for the Lakers, while the Thunder were only able to net one in the third period and the Lakers defeated the Thunder 12-7.

The Lakers finished the night 2/5 on the powerplay while the Thunder went 0/3. Shots were 32-32.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Burnaby – Aidan Milburn – 5 goals, 1 assist

2. Langley – Thomas Moffat – 3 goals, 2 assists

3. Burnaby – Tyler Kirkby – 2 goals, 3 assists

The Langley Thunder will now take on the Port Coquitlam Saints on May 7th for the second time in less than 2 weeks and as the Thunder spoiled the Saints’ home opener, the Saints will look to do the same at the Langley Events Centre. The Lakers will head to Nanaimo on May 9 ^th to take on the Timbermen.