DELTA, B.C. – The atmosphere inside the Ladner Leisure Centre was electric as the Tunnel Series between the Delta Ice Hawks and Richmond Sockeyes began a new chapter.
With Richmond wearing black and Delta in their grey alternates, the scoring opened up near the midway point of the first frame thanks to former Sockeye and current Hawks forward Rajun Parmar, assisted by Grady Lenton. Richmond found their answer quickly, as Cole Brown ended the short-lived Ice Hawks lead. Late in the first, Richmond defender Ryan Kump put the puck over the glass and skated off on the game’s first penalty, a Delay of Game call.
Festivities picked up in the second period with the resumption of the Ice Hawks power play, followed by another opportunity with Nathan Gray in the box for tripping. The special teams momentum would swing in the Sockeyes’ favour, as Danylo Bereza was called for slashing. Richmond took the chance to apply steady, unrelenting pressure throughout the middle period, as Delta would go on to more penalty kills with Mateo Sjoberg (slashing), Brogan Kennedy (tripping) and Dylan Stafford (tripping) all taken off the ice. Delta netminder Merik Erickson was steady throughout, unwavering with the Sockeyes bearing down. Ice Hawks defenceman Nicholas Goyer made a game-saving stop of his own, sweeping a loose puck away from an open net during Sjoberg’s penalty.
Onwards to the third period, where the chances for both squads were more balanced out, though the deadlock on the scoreboard carried on. With more penalties doled out (seven of the nine minor penalties in the period were for roughing), Richmond forward Yashas Jain pulled his team ahead in dramatic fashion and scored to give the Sockeyes their first lead of the contest. Freed from the confines of the penalty box on that Jain goal, Lenton did as he has done so often this year: put the team on his back. 76 seconds of game time later, with Richmond defenceman Michael McIntyre sitting for a roughing penalty, Tye Hemenway passed the puck to a wide-open Lenton, who took his time before unleashing a laser of a wrist-shot past the stunned Richmond goalie, Mathias Hasselmann.
Pushing this contest past the bounds of regulation, things felt different; much more opened-up going into overtime than the game that preceded it. Throughout the last 60 minutes, there was only one minute and 39 seconds of time where the game was not tied in a dead heat. Somehow, this tie game conjured feelings of optimism, confidence, and perhaps a sense of destiny being fulfilled. From the Hawks’ zone, Richmond shot the puck high and wide on a sharp-angle shot attempt. Along the boards Parmar battled for and gained control, jumping into an open lane through the neutral zone and picking up speed. Just a step behind the play, Goyer muscles past Beaudy Beaudin down the middle to keep Bereza open and ready on the right side. Bereza collected a perfect pass in transit from Parmar and wired the puck past a sprawling Hasselmann to put an exclamation mark on the game, a 3-2 win for the Delta Ice Hawks to seize control of the Tunnel Series by 2 games to 1.
The Ice Hawks take their talents on the road tomorrow, Wednesday December 18th, in Langley to face the Trappers. Puck drop at the George Preston Arena is set for 7:05 PM.
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THREE STARS:
• Delta forward Rajun Parmar opened the scoring against his former team and assisted on Bereza’s overtime game-winner, earning the game’s third star.
• Delta forward Grady Lenton assisted on Parmar’s opening goal and notched the game-tying goal, extending his personal points-scoring streak to 16 games and becoming second star of the game.
• Delta forward Danylo Bereza locked in the Ice Hawks’ victory with the overtime winner, securing first star honours.
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