CHILLIWACK vs KAMLOOPS

FIRST PERIOD SUMMARY:

The Bruins got off to an excellent start. On the opening shift, Alexander Wiklund steamed in on the forecheck and forced Bronson Maschmeyer to cough up the puck in the left corner. Shayne Neigum pounced on the turnover, and nearly banked the puck past Blazers netminder Justin Leclerc from the right corner.

Before the game was two minutes old, Chilliwack had its first goal on a power play tally by Jesse Craige. With Tyler Shattock serving two minutes for holding, Andy Smith worked behind the Kamloops net, feeding a backhand pass to Craige. The diminutive defenceman blasted a half-slapper past Leclerc, picking the top left corner.

Chilliwack could have had two or three more, if Czech import Roman Horak didn’t have opening night jitters.

Smith sent Horak in alone on Leclerc on a two-on-one rush, but the speedster was thwarted on the backhand. Later in the period, he had a clear breakway from the high slot in, but lifted a wrist shot well over the cross-bar.

The Blazers made the most of their chances, drawing even and then surging ahead late in the period. The Blazers got on the board at the 16:41 mark with a power play goal by Shayne Wiebe. Veteran Tyler Shattock fed a saucer pass to Wiebe at the point, and the Manitoba native blasted a one-timer past Friesen to knot the score at 1-1.

Two minutes later, with the Bruins unable to get the puck out of their own zone, Brendan Ranford bulled out of the left corner and slid the puck past Friesen, just inside the right post, to send Kamloops into the break with a 2-1 lead.

- The first fight of the year pitted Scott Ramsay of Chilliwack against Blazers forward Cole Grbavac. Ramsay earned a narrow decision in an evenly contested bout.

- Line combos in the first period were Horak/Smith/Howse... Neigum/Sundher/Wiklund... McNaught/Collins/Wentworth... Quakenbush/Robinson/McKinlay

- Defence pairings in the first period were Manning/Habscheid... McColm/Topping... Craige/Ramsay

SECOND PERIOD SUMMARY

The Bruins ran into penalty trouble early in the middle frame. First, Alexander Wiklund was sent off for checking from behind, and then Mitch McColm was flagged for roughing. But Chilliwack came up big on the penalty kill, snuffing out the threat, and getting a shorthanded goal. As Wiklund stepped out of the box, he threw a cross-ice pass to defenceman Scott Ramsay, who re-directed a breakaway pass to Andy Smith. In alone on Leclerc, the veteran buried the puck under the cross-bar to knot the score at 2-2.

Kamloops quickly surged ahead once more with a pair of goals just over two minutes apart. On the first, Ramsay was caught up ice as Shayne Wiebe scampered down the right wing. Friesen stopped his shot, but C.J. Stretch calmly buried the rebound, restoring the Kamloops lead at the 13-minute mark.

On Ramsay’s next shift, Wiebe used speed to burn him wide, shovelling the puck on net. This time, Tyler Shattock was parked in the goal crease to tap in the rebound, giving the Blazers a 4-2 lead.

The Bruins got one back late in the period on a goal by Kevin Sundher. The young sniper was lurking to the left of the Kamloops net as the puck squirted loose. Leclerc couldn’t dive across his net quick enough to thwart Sundher’s wrist shot. His first of the season sent Chilliwack to the third period facing a one-goal deficit.

- Linden Saip learns his lessons slowly. The Kamloops defenceman was throttled by Dylen McKinlay in a fight at Prospera Centre last season. Halfway through the second period, Saip dropped the mitts with Randy McNaught, who gave him a sound beating before the linesmen jumped in.