Road woes continue for Rampage

They've been on the road for much of the CIHL season so far, and the frequent trips out of town haven't been particularly rewarding in the Standings for the Prince Rupert Rampage.

This weekend sent the Rampage off to Houston and Smithers and in both instances the Rampage ended up on the short side of the score sheet at games end.

Saturday the Rampage took on the Houston Luckies, a team that like the Rampage has struggled so far in the CIHL year. However on Saturday night it would be the Luckies who escaped with the points in the standings, on the strength of a 4-3 victory, with Houston turning on the heat in the third with three consecutive goals to secure the win.

Prince Rupert's goal scorers in regulation time on Friday included Derek Baker with the game opener at 7:38 and Justin Fontaine with two goals, one at 15:59 of the first, the second a period 2 marker at 18:51.

Keano Wilson faced 34 shots in the Rampage net.  Details from the game can be found from the scoresheet from Houston here.

Sunday, the weary Rampage went into Smithers to take on one of the top teams of the league in the Steelheads and it again proved to be a long sixty minutes of hockey for the Rupertites. Smithers scored five unanswered goals in periods one and two, before Jared Meers collected the only marker for the Rampage on the day, scoring at 8:43 of the third.

The Steelheads found the net behind Blake Buckham one more time on their way to the 6-1 victory, Buckham faced 35 Steelhead shots on Sunday.

The Steelheads win improves their record to 10 wins and 0 losses, making the Steelheads once again clearly the Best in the CIHL this year.

You can review the scoresheet from the Steelheads match up here.

With the twin losses on the road this weekend, the Rampage record falls to 1 win, 6 losses and 1 Overtime loss.

The Ramage can finally keep the suitcases in the closet for the foreseeable future.

After a season blocked full with road games owing to the troubles at the Civic Centre in September, the Rampage now will spend most of November and December at home, with weekly games through till mid December at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

They're next action is this weekend, when Williams Lake comes to town Saturday night, followed by an afternoon match up with Quesnel on Sunday.

You can review all our Rampage coverage from our archives.