The Ice Hawks gave Jordy Engleson a pretty nice present on his 20th birthday – their first win of the 2020-21 season.
Langley had a 1-0 lead through the first 20 minutes, when Hayden Yahn scored mid-period, right before the media time out.
Though Langley doubled Delta in shots (10-5), the first period was fairly even, with good chances on both sides.
The Ice Hawks started the second period strong and evened the score quickly on a goal by Ryan Xu. Xu slapped in a loose rebound in the slot after a point shot from Kevin Parra-Vaughan.
Brendan O’Grady reclaimed the lead for the Trappers, this time immediately following the mid-period pause, taking a saucer pass from Casey Whintors and beating Engleson high-blocker side.
Delta tied the game a second time with just 14 seconds left in the middle frame; Brice Kemp fooled the Trapper defense and goalie Brandon Naidu by looping a pass to the trailing Cameron Judson, who scored on the open net.
Langley came out with a lot of pressure to start the third, and Casey Whintors capitalized on the fast start, again giving his team a one-goal lead.
Almost exactly 10 minutes later, Hawks newcomer Alex Lucchesi knotted the score 3-3 on a short-side shot that snuck past Naidu.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game with just over two minutes remaining in the game on a goal from Jordin Kojima, who took a slap-pass and deked around Naidu for the 4-3 winner.
