The Delta Ice Hawks took Thursday’s game against the Richmond Sockeyes 4-0 on the Sockeyes’ home turf, and now lead this year’s Tunnel Series 2-0.
Zach Shaughnessy had a shutout to wrap up a solid week in net for him, allowing just one goal in two wins against the Hawks’ top two rivals in the Tom Shaw Conference.
Colin Jang had the lone goal of the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Carson Merriman and picking his spot, beating a sliding Thomas Popa for a power play goal that put him into double-digit goals on the season and gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Delta had another solo goal in the second period – the puck was chipped up to centre and Mateo Sjoberg passed it on to Danylo Bereza. He and Payton Hu went into the Richmond zone together, with Hu taking the puck out wide on the right and threading a pass back inside for Bereza and a beauty tap-in.
In the third, the Hawks were on the power play five minutes in and Tye Hemenway had the puck on the left side. He found Brandon Petrie up top and he let a shot go from the centre point that found its way through traffic into the back of the net for the defenceman’s second of the season and a 3-0 lead.
The Hawks added one more with less than three minutes to go, with Bereza and Hu involved again. Bereza won a puck battle below the Richmond goal line, got the puck over to Hu, who passed to Sjoberg in the slot for a one-time shot over the left shoulder of Popa for a 4-0 lead and a big Hawks win against a division rival.
