The Quesnel Kangaroos became the second team in as many weeks to roll into the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre arena with an undefeated record only to fall to the Rampage on home ice, as the Rampage took down the Kangaroos in a game that required a shootout to resolve.
It was Quesnel that struck first following more than 10 minutes of back and forth play as Alessio Tomassetti put one by Keith Movold with 8:54 to play. The Rampage responded though, as Jared Andreesen’s slapshot on the powerplay got by Josh Levesque made it a 1-1 game with 2:34 to play, but the tie was short lived when Joey MacDonald restored Quesnel’s one goal lead just 51 seconds later and with just 1:43 to play. As a result, Quesnel would take a 201 lead into the second period.
Unlike the close opening to the first period, the second period saw the teams tally four goals before five minutes had been played in the frame. Paul Girodat put Quesnel up by two just 49 seconds in, and Justin Fontaine responded with a goal for the Rampage less than 20 seconds after that. 67 seconds later Shawn Fulton found the back of the net to put the Roo’s up by two, and that lead was extended to three when Rigby Bergart put one past Movold at the four minute mark. Things calmed down a bit after that offensive onslaught, and it would be Rupert that struck next with Byton Tates narrowing the gap to two. A goal by Brett Stava with 3:14 to play pulled the Rampage to within one heading into the final 20 minutes, ensuring an exciting finish for the fans in attendance.
As the Rampage looked to tie things up and Quesnel looked to protect their lead, the result was an exciting period that remained scoreless until late in the frame when Andreesen put home his second of the game to tie things up with just 3:11 to play to bring the crowd to their feet. The remainder of the third was scoreless, leading to a shootout with the Kangaroos unbeaten record on the line.
In the shootout, Movold turned aside Girodat while Brett Stava got one by Levesque to put the Rampage up one. That would prove to be all they needed, as Movold shut down both Alessio and Nick Tomassetti to give the Rampage the 5-4 victory and their second straight win.
In other western conference action, the Kitimat Ice Demons run of bad luck continued as they lost to both the Terrace River Kings and the Quesnel Kangaroos in consecutive shootouts on Saturday and Sunday night to bring their winless streak to four. Terrace defeated Kitimat to lessen the gap in the standings. The Demons lead the conference with 10 points (4-2-2), followed by the River Kings with six points (3-5-0) followed by the Rampage with five points (2-5-1).
The Smithers Steelheads, who were not in action this weekend, are the only unbeaten team in the league.
The Rampage will now travel to Terrace for a game against the River Kings on Saturday night. The next time the team plays at home will be on November 26 and 27 for a double-header against the Terrace River Kings on Saturday night and the Hazelton Wolverines on Sunday afternoon.