Langley Hornets forward Nathan Zurak tried to deke past Vernon Viper Mark Nelson during Langley’s 4-2 win at the Langley Civic Centre Sunday.
A hard working Langley Hornets squad won all three games they played over the weekend.
The Langley Hornets are making a late playoff charge, but are they too late?
The Hornets won three games this past weekend, and are six points out of the final playoff spot in the British Columbia Hockey League’s Coastal Conference.
Langley – 17-26-1-4 for 39 points – is chasing the Victoria Salsa (45 points), Powell River Kings (46 points) and Alberni Valley Bulldogs (47 points) for that final post-season berth.
With 12 games left in the season, the Hornets have a lot of work in front of them, but if this past weekend is any indication, the next two weeks could be very interesting, indeed.
Langley hit the road to start its weekend, edging the host Cowichan Valley Capitals 3-2 in overtime on Friday and Victoria 6-4 on Saturday. They returned home on Sunday to face one of the league’s elite teams, the Vernon Vipers, and won 4-2.
“We were warriors this weekend,” Hornets head coach Mike Cameron said. “The determination the guys showed is evident to how devoted they are to the team and each other. It was a gigantic weekend for us. The guys worked extremely hard and as a coaching staff, we’re very proud of them.”
Hornets captain Rob Pritchard said the players know they have to hustle to make the playoffs, but added that the team is full of confidence.
“We know it’s coming down to the last few weeks of the season, but there’s a good feeling in the room right now,” Pritchard said. “All of the guys are on the same page and we’re playing a real team game.”
Most impressive was Langley’s home-ice win Sunday against a Vernon team that entered the game with a 29-13-0-7 record. Only the Salmon Arm Silverbacks has more points than the Vipers.
Pritchard said the Hornets usually raise their level of play against the BCHL’s best teams.
“We play good games against the top teams,” he said. “We tend to elevate our game.”
Playing their third game in as many nights, the Hornets kept their energy level up during a scoreless opening period, and were unlucky not to be leading going into the first intermission.
In the second period, Pritchard opened the game’s scoring with an shorthanded goal, before Vernon tallied twice to take a 2-1 lead. Late in the period, Hornets sniper Andrew Sarauer scored his team-leading 36th goal to even the score at 2-2.
Langley cemented the win with a pair of third-period goals. Robert Skinner notched the game winner 46 seconds into the period. Darren Olson added an insurance marker on a Hornets powerplay at the 11:06 mark.
Cam Norris-Jones got the victory, stopping 24 of 26 Vernon shots.
Pritchard said the two teams entered the game on even terms. Vernon was coming off road losses to the Coquitlam Express Friday and Chilliwack Chiefs Saturday.
“Your always going to be a little tired, playing the third game of a three game weekend, but Vernon was playing [its] third game [of the weekend], too. It was a case of whoever put forth the best effort would win.”
Saturday in Victoria, the Hornets erased an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Salsa 6-4.
Langley’s Matt Pope scored to bring the Hornets within one late in the first period. The second period belonged to the Hornets, who scored three unanswered goals to take a 4-2 lead before Victoria’s Jess Felske tallied with 27 seconds to go in the period to make it 4-3.
Pritchard scored twice in the middle frame. Sarauer had the other goal.
Langley put the game away with goals 30 seconds apart midway through the final period. Pritchard completed his hat trick at the 10:51 mark. Jordan Siu gave Langley some breathing room when he scored the Hornets’ sixth goal at 11:21.
Victoria’s Nick Vandenbeld made it 6-4 with a late shorthanded goal, but that was as close as the Salsa would get.
Norris-Jones was stellar in net. He stopped 42 of 46 shots.
Coming from behind is getting to be routine for the Hornets, who trailed 2-0 in the first period on Friday to the hometown Cowichan Valley Capitals.
Langley scored the final three goals of the game, including the overtime winner off the stick of Sarauer during a 3-2 victory. Langley’s Michael Wilson (on a powerplay) and Sean Weaver scored second period goals to make it 2-2.
After a scoreless third period, Sarauer scored with .8 seconds remaining in the first overtime period to lift Langley to the win.
Langley goaltender Corey Grant frustrated the Caps’ shooters, stopping 40 of 42 shots.
Cameron was hesitant when asked to point out any individual player’s performance over the weekend: “It was everybody. Both of our goaltenders played outstanding, and we’re going to need good goaltending down the stretch. We had great leadership from Pritchard and [defenceman] Aaron Berman had just a fantastic weekend, but you can’t pinpoint our success on just one or two guys.”
ICE CHIPS: The Hornets’ playoff quest continues this weekend. On Thursday, the Prince George Spruce Kings visit the Civic Centre. The Bugs travel to South Surrey on Friday, before hosting Cowichan Valley Saturday. Both home games start at 7:30 p.m.
