DELTA, B.C. – After a promising run of back-to-back victories to break the season-opening winless streak, the Delta Ice Hawks were once again seeking a spark to get back to their winning ways coming into Saturday’s battle against the Richmond Sockeyes, the latest instalment in the Tunnel Series.
Armaan Kaila made his third start of the young season, stepping back into the crease after Tuesday night’s Truth & Reconciliation game in Gibsons against the Coastal Tsunami. At the other end of the ice stood his counterpart in black and red: Massimo Urbani, starting back-to-back games against Delta after earning his club the win on Thursday night.
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1st Period
Delta forward Beckett Cross caught the game’s first penalty, a tripping call just shy of the seven-minute mark of the opening period, sending Richmond to their Tom Shaw Conference-leading power play at a 21.7% conversion rate. Though the Sockeyes dominated the play, Delta stood strong through the first major challenge of the contest.
A delayed slashing call against Hawks forward Brogan Kennedy brought the home side back to killing penalties, ending up further shorthanded as Cross was quickly returned to the box on a 10-minute misconduct.
Kaila was tested often by the Sockeyes, making jaw-dropping saves on Dylan Nazareth and William Huo, among others. However, it would be a determined Nazareth who broke through the scoreless deadlock first.
Richmond’s Gavin Dacpano earned a tripping call, launching Delta’s first opportunity of the night with a man-advantage late into the first. However, the effort would prove fruitless. With Cross out of the box in the final minute and all ongoing penalties expired, the teams exited to their dressing rooms with Richmond sporting a 1-0 lead in goals and an 8-7 shots-on-goal advantage.
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2nd Period
The Ice Hawks began the second period where they left off: on the back foot, with the Sockeyes driving the play. Nazareth danced his way in, but was this time denied by Kaila.
Cross caught a splendid chance on a breakaway, making no mistake as he rifled the puck bar-down to get the Hawks on the board to tie the game.
Sockeyes’ rookie defenceman Rowan Duke was busted for high-sticking, prompting another chance for the Ice Hawks’ power play.
Ice Hawks’ sophomore forward Teegan Sara had a doorstep chance to score on Urbani, but his stick had other plans, breaking in the attempt and forcing his retreat to the bench.
With Huo sent to the sin bin for tripping, the Ice Hawks made quick work on this particular power play, with Cross notching his second of the game just six seconds into the man-advantage on assists from Keeghan Dunn and Colin Jang.
Keeghan Dunn, not long after earning the primary assist on the go-ahead goal, found himself in the penalty box for interference. This would ultimately beget further penalties, with Sockeyes captain Teo Lin sitting for hooking and his teammate Josh Mytton joining him on a tripping call.
Richmond found their tying goal shortly after returning to even-strength, with the recently-sprung-from-the-box Mytton scoring to make it 2-all.
Bruce McLeod took a minor penalty for kneeing in the latter half of the second period. Kennedy had a brief look at a short-handed chance, but got his pocked picked en route to the goal.
A late-period hooking penalty to Richmond forward Brody Lindal spurred on another stretch of special teams action. Delta d-man Ryder Dunn unloaded a bomb of a shot that went wide, and captain Grady Lenton followed up with a high-danger wraparound attempt, but neither those nor any other volleys from the home team would disrupt the score, still deadlocked at 2-2 with four seconds of penalty carrying over to the third period.
Richmond held a distinct advantage in the shots category, sending 14 pucks on Kaila during the period. Delta recorded six shots of their own, converting two of them into seismic goals.
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3rd Period
Early into the final frame of regulation time, Sockeyes defender Quinn Orr exited the game with discomfort. Orr was helped to the bench by his teammates, with no penalties resulting from the play.
Seconds after Kaila made a crucial stop on Lindal, the Ice Hawks were penalized once again, with Ryder Dunn assessed a charging penalty. Huo and the Sockeyes power play put everything they had toward the net, but could not solve Kaila in this instance.
Jang would provide the heroics his team so urgently needed, scoring a phenomenal goal on Urbani, followed by another goal just seconds later to vault his side into a 4-2 advantage.
Delta found themselves shorthanded once again, with Kennedy called for his second slashing infraction of the game. Richmond offered chances aplenty, but Kaila stood strong, making saves both routine and extraordinary in equal measure.
Withstanding a flurry of activity at his own end of the ice, Urbani exited his crease to retrieve his stick in the corner, getting back barely in time to deny a streaking Kennedy.
Sockeyes blueliner Mattias Uyeda, already the leading scorer in the Tom Shaw Conference and sitting on a two-assist night, added a slashing penalty to his stat line after getting his stick up on Kaila. The power-play would only last for 37 seconds, as Ryder Dunn returned to the sin bin for tripping.
Kennedy made a return visit to the penalty box, this time for boarding, effectively turning a 5-on-4 chance for Delta into a 4-on-3 chance for Richmond. Calling their timeout, Richmond regrouped, with Urbani making his way to the bench for an extra attacker once his team established possession.
Kai Adano, left all alone in the slot, was denied by Kaila in stunning fashion. Uyeda returned to the ice, setting the stage for Richmond to lock in at 6-on-3 for an extended stretch. Ryder Dunn, and Kennedy
Ryder Dunn and Uyeda mixed it up with under 30 seconds left in the game, throwing punches as tensions boiled over. Delta’s Jang and Kennedy each earned 10-minute misconducts, as did Richmond’s Huo and Uyeda, with Uyeda also earning a two-minute roughing call served by Carter Voll.
Further fisticuffs occurred off the next whistle, with Cross and Cole Gartner sharing a spirited exchange. Meanwhile, Adano and Noah Hoglund would square off and both exit to the dressing rooms.
The buzzer sounded at last, with the Delta Ice Hawks emerging victorious for the third time in the early stages of the season. The 4-2 result flipped the script on the previous Tunnel Series contest on Thursday, while also handing the Richmond Sockeyes their first loss of the campaign, snapping a 7-game win streak in the process.
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3 Stars of the Game
- Delta Ice Hawks forward Beckett Cross provided his team their first two goals, spurring his team back from multiple deficits to pull even and secure third-star honours.
- Delta Ice Hawks forward Colin Jang scored the next two Hawks goals in short order, stunning Urbani and the Sockeyes to earn second-star plaudits.
- Delta Ice Hawks goaltender Armaan Kaila was superlative, withstanding test after test, turning aside 46 shots from Richmond to lock in first-star accolades.
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Notable Notes
- Delta Ice Hawks forward Keeghan Dunn made his debut on Saturday night, notching an assist in his first game with the club. The 2007-born forward from Richmond comes to the Hawks with 46 games of BCHL experience, split between the Cowichan Valley Capitals and the Vernon Vipers, along with 16 games in the AJHL with the Olds Grizzlys. Dunn, 18, is the older brother of recent Ice Hawks acquisition and defenceman Ryder Dunn.
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