The Port Moody Panthers came back to earth with a thud Wednesday when they lost 6-2 to the Langley Trappers in their Pacific Junior Hockey League game at George Preston Arena.
The loss follows a 4-2 upset win Saturday over the Abbotsford Pilots, who are in second place in the Harold Brittain conference and have 23 points more than the Panthers.
In Langley, the Panthers seemed to pick up the momentum of Saturday’s victory — only their seventh of the season — when Jack Hamilton scored on a power play just 51 seconds into the game.
But the Trappers scored the next three to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.
Tetsuya Prior got Port Moody back into the game almost six minutes into the second period when he cashed in a set up from Brady Morrison as Langley’s Ben Hamel cooled his heels in the penalty box serving a minor for slashing.
Joshua Boelema restored Langley’s two-goal advantage with just a tick over a minute left before the break, then the Trappers added two more in the third to ice their ninth win of the season.
Against the Pilots at Port Moody Arena on Saturday, goalie Alexander Kong stopped 36 of the 38 shots he faced in the Panthers’ net to earn the win and the game’s first star.
Abbotsford took a 1-0 lead 11:41 into the first period when Brady Morton converted a set up by Cameron Obcena. But Ryleigh Anderson was able to tie it less than three minutes later with a power play goal from Brady Morrison.
Morrison then scored 5:17 into the second period to give Port Moody the lead.
The Pilots got back on even terms early in the third period but goals by Konstantinos Rados and Morrison, with his second, gave Port Moody its seventh win of the season.
The Panthers fired 33 shots at Abbostford goalie Robert Nawrot.
• Teams from the PJHL will join Junior B teams from the Kootenay International and Vancouver Island junior hockey leagues, as well as two teams from the province playing in the North West Junior Hockey League to make full face protection mandatory for all players beginning in the 2018-19 season.
“The decision is part of BC Hockey’s mandate to provide a safe environment for our players to develop,” said BC Hockey’s Junior coordinator, Phil Haddon, in a press release.
The move is expected to reduce dental and facial injuries to players. From 2010 to 2015, players wearing half visors reported more than 370 dental injuries to Hockey Canada while only eight players with full face protection reported such injuries.
“Players can play more confidently without fear of facial or dental injury as a result of play,” Haddon said.
Full-face protection will also save the league money. Premiums under the Hockey Canada insurance program for major medical and dental care will drop 71% — from $35 to $10 per player — with the new measure, which will also extend to Junior B players who are called up to play with Junior A teams.
