The Prince Rupert Rampage traveled into the Bulkley Valley this weekend to face the Houston Luckies and the Smithers Steelheads, and returned to the north coast without a win.
On Saturday night the Rampage played the Luckies and opened the scoring on the powerplay as Derek Baker put one past Brock Henrickson just under eight minutes into the first, but Derek Dinelle added a powerplay goal for Houston with six minutes to play to tie things up at one. Less than two minute later though, Justin Fontaine found the back of the net to give Prince Rupert the 2-1 lead through the first 20 minutes.
The second period proved to be a very even one, with neither team scoring until Fontaine netted his second of the game with 1:09 left to give Prince Rupert a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.
The third, though, was all Houston. Brett Mithcell pulled the Luckies to within one with 13:53 to play, and Dwayne Meints tied things up with 4:31 left in the game. While it looked like overtime might be needed, Jaden Janzen beat netminder Keano Wilson with 3:55 left to play to put Houston up 4-3, and that was how the game would end.
On Sunday the Rampage faced off against the Smithers Steelheads, a team that was undefeated last season and remains undefeated this year. The game was largely controlled by the Steelheads, who shut out the Rampage until Josh Kierce put Rupert on the board with 11:15 to play in the third period en route to a 6-1 Steelheads victory.
This weekend the Rampage return home for double header action. On Saturday night the team plays the Williams Lake Stampeders, and on Sunday afternoon the team will face off with the Quesnel Kangaroos. Look for full results from both games next week in the Prince Rupert Northern View.