Solid Weekend for Rivermen
It was a 3 game week for the Langley Rivermen as they faced the Wenatchee Wild on Thursday night at the Lodge before embarking on a 2 game road trip to the Island to take on the Nanaimo Clippers and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Thursday’s game didn’t end as the Rivermen had expected as they were able to stay stride for stride with the Wild for majority of the game and held the lead through 40 plus minutes of play before Wenatchee turned it up in the final 20 and had a few bounces go in the favour of the visitors. The Wild would sneak in a empty net marker to seal the victory 5-3.
Looking to bounce back, Langley would travel to the Island for the final time this regular season and in their way were the Clippers on Saturday night at the Frank Crane Arena. The Rivermen would take the lead early in the contest but Nanaimo would tie things up at 1-1 after the opening frame. That’s when Langley would take over the rest of the way.
Four different goal scorers found the score sheet for the Riv as Ryan Barrow, Brendan Budy, McKay Flanagan and Gavin Payne helped Langley to a 4-1 victory over Nanaimo. The win was just the 2nd of the season on the road and the Rivermen improved their record to 7-11-3-1 and wanting to finish strong with a season series finale with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Langley was looking for something that has eluded them thus far and that is the ability to string together multiple wins. The Bulldogs may have been right for the picking as they were reeling from a difficult loss to the Surrey Eagles the previous night.
It was all Rivermen in this contest as they cruised to a convincing 7-0 victory and secured 4 out of 6 important points this week. Langley would take the season series 2 games to none. Barrow had a terrific week as he had 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points in 3 games and the Rivermen will need Ryan to keep the pace going in the absence of fellow Langley veteran Max Kaufman who is out of the lineup.
The final game of the 3 game road trip concludes in Vernon on Wednesday night as the Vipers and the Rivermen will meet for the first time this season. Vernon sits 3rd in the Interior Division Standings with a record of 10-11-2-0 for 22 points. Then Langley will return home Saturday night at the Lodge to face the Nanaimo Clippers for the 2nd and final time this regular season. The Rivermen will be looking for the season sweep.
