The Delta Ice Hawks’ offence sputtered on Tuesday night, falling 2-1 to the White Rock Whalers at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
Leo Li scored his first goal of the year, but that was the only time the Hawks found the back of the net. Jordy Engleson allowed just two goals in his return to the lineup, and head coach Steve Robinson was anticipating a better game from his team following Thursday night’s win in Richmond.
“It was disappointing for the guys to come out a play really flat,” he said. “Coming off an emotional win over Richmond, playing a divisional opponent, you’d hope that the guys would respond with a hard-working, effort game, but it just felt like three-quarters of the team were passengers tonight and we didn’t deserve a better outcome.”
The lone goal in the first period was scored by White Rock’s Chris Fortems, who picked up a rebound that trickled away from Jordy Engleson and gave the Whalers the lead after 20 minutes.
In the second period, the Hawks came back with a vengeance, more than doubling their shot total from the first period. Late in the frame, Leo Li shot from the point and, thanks to a fortuitous bounce off of a Whalers defenseman, tied the game 1-1 with his first goal of the season.
About five minutes into the final frame, Cole Svendson regained the lead for the Whalers. The puck deflected in front right to the open Svendson, who sent home the winning goal.
The loss to the Whalers drops the Hawks into fifth place in the Tom Shaw Conference standings, still tied with 21 points, but the Whalers have two more wins.
Coach Robinson expects to see a different team out on the ice on Friday in Maple Ridge to help “rebound with a better game on the road”.
Delta takes on the Ridge Meadows Flames at the Planet Ice Maple Ridge on Friday at 7:30.
