The Prince Rupert Rampage held their home opener against the Terrace River Kings on Saturday night in front of an excited crowd at the arena, but ended up on the wrong side of a 6-1 score.
The River Kings came out firing early in the game, and it paid off in three goals in less than 10 minutes. Derek Jurista put one past Dan Lorette with 16:34 remaining and followed that up with another goal three minutes later while Tristan Murray made it 3-0 just 47 seconds later. That was enough for the coaching staff to pull Lorette and put Tremaine Kurka in net, but with 2:47 left in the first Murray scored his second of the game to put the River Kings up 4-0. Jeremy Boot gave the crowd something to cheer about before the period was out though, finding the back of the net with just 36 second left in the first to lessen the gap to 4-1.
After another quick goal by captain Steve Cullis just over four minutes into the period, the Rampage seemed to settle down a bit and the two teams went back and forth with no other goals being recorded and the period ending with Terrace leading 5-1.
That back and forth play continued into the third, with Kurka standing his ground and nobody finding the back of the net until Murray completed the hat trick with just 2:12 to play. When the horn sounded Terrace enjoyed a 6-1 victory.
With the win, the River Kings have two points while the Kitimat Ice Demons continue to lead the Western Conference with a perfect 3-0 record and six points. The Rampage remain the only team in the league without any points thus far.
This weekend the Rampage will host the Kitimat Ice Demons, while next week the team will play their first doubleheader, hosting the Smithers Steelheads on Saturday night and the Houston Luckies on Sunday. Look for results from those games next week.