Tough loss for Rampage in tightly contested game

The Prince Rupert Rampage managed to control a high flying Kitimat Ice Demons offence on Saturday night, but the visitors still managed enough scoring to take two points out of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

Despite some solid play from the home side and cheered on by a Thanksgiving weekend crowd of 520 at the Jim, the Ice Demons held on to a 3-1 victory in the week two CIHL match up

The night offered up an impressive effort from the Rampage, who limited the Ice Demons offensive display to but those three goals, one in each period,  the last one an empty net marker at the end of the game.

Some strong defensive work by the Rampage provided a significant challenge for the Kitimat squad which had collected 14 goals in its first two games and found that on their home ice, Prince Rupert wasn't going to be quite as charitable towards them.

The Rampage clearly corrected some of their defensive errors of week one, however while they had many offensive chances, the Prince Rupert squad could not put more than one puck by Kitimat goaltender Thomas Mildenberger.

That lone Rampage marker coming from Justin Fontaine, who scored a short handed, unassisted goal, at the fifteen minute mark of the Third period.

Prince Rupert kept the Ice Demons Goaltender rather busy facing 32 shots, while at the Rampage end of the rink, Keano Wilson faced 22 shots on the night, allowing two.

Saturday night's match up saw the physical play increase through the second and third periods, with numerous misconducts and delay of game penalties called during the rougher periods of play.

Penalties through the game were fairly evenly split, with the Rampage accumulating 48 minutes in the box with 13 infractions, while the Ice Demons sat things out for 46 minutes, with fifteen infractions assessed.

With the win, the Ice Demons continue to solidify their hold on the West Division's top spot, now holding a record of 3-0, with a Goals for total of 16, compared to just 7 against.

The Rampage have yet to claim victory in this still young CIHL season, their next opportunity to record a W, comes up on Saturday when they travel to Terrace to take on the River Kings.

The full summary of Saturday night's game can be found here, for more items of interest on the CIHL and the Rampage head for our archive page.

Our Rampage Schedule and results page can be found here.