River Kings Sweep Rampage in Home and Home series

2014 did not provide the kind of start that the Prince Rupert Rampage might have been hoping for, as the Rampage found themselves on the wrong of the scoreboard twice over the weekend in a home and home series with the Terrace River Kings.

It was a rare Friday night home date for the Rampage as they hosted the River Kings in a thriller at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre. An end to end kind of game that required a shoot out to declare a winner, with the Terrace squad prevailing by a total of 3-2, in front of 502 fans at the Jim.

To get there however there was three periods and an overtime of hard hitting and fast paced action leading to a 5 -5 tie at the end of the four periods of play.

Prince Rupert found goals from Kory Movald  and Thomas Robinson in the first. With Robinson picking up the assist on the Movald goal, while Justin Fontaine and Derek Baker claimed the helpers on the Robinson marker.

That gave the Rampage a 2-1 lead heading into the second, one that they quickly increased to a 3-1 lead a little over a minute into period two on a short handed, unassisted goal by Devin Palmer, while Kory Movald struck again at the fourteen minute mark with his second goal of the night, assisted by Jared Meers.

The River Kings however were busy clawing their way back into the game, picking up two goals of their own in period number two, making for a  4 to 3 lead for the puck drop to start the third.

In the final regular period the River Kings were quick to the offence with two goals in the first seven minutes of play, taking a 5-4 lead into the final two minutes when Jared Meers picked up an unassisted goal at 18:44 which set the stage for the scoreless overtime period and the eventual shootout where Terrace found their marks for the win.

It was a fairly physical game with the River Kings picking up 26 minutes of penalty time on 13 infractions, while the Rampage were penalized for 28 minutes on 14 infractions.

Garret Muir took the victory in the nets for the River Kings making 26 saves on 31 shots, Warren Hansen was tagged with the loss for the Rampage facing 37 shots on the night, making saves on 32 of them.

The full summary for Friday night's game can be found here.

Saturday, the Rampage took to the road for their final road trip of the regular season, a return engagement with the River Kings who once again found success, this time without the need of overtime or a shoot out.

Prince Rupert opened the night up on a positive note picking up the first goal of the game at 7:46 of the first as Josh Kierce found the mark with assists going to Justin Fontaine and Jared Davis, a goal that was quickly countered by the River Kings three minutes later, taking the teams to the dressing room tied at one after the first.

The second period belonged to Terrace as they scored twice to build their lead, a first minute goal and another at the eight minute mark adding to their lead, giving them a 3-1 advantage with 20 minutes to play. Terrace added to the lead at 6:27 of the third, scoring their fourth and final goal of the night, while the Rampage scored one more to round out the night, as Craig Munro picked up a power play goal assisted by Greg Sheppard at 16:55.

Terrace however guided the game home in the remaining three minutes claiming the 4-2 victory.

Devin Gerrits took the Rampage loss in the nets with 32 saves on 36 shots, while the Rampage fired off 29 shots at the River Kings Garret Muir who turned aside all but two of them.

The Rampage spent 14 minutes in the box on seven penalties on Saturday, while the River Kings were called on five infractions for 10 minutes of penalty time.

400 fans took in the game at the Terrace Arena.

Saturday's summary can be found here.

The Rampage close out the regular season this weekend when the Smithers Steelheads come to town for two games, a Saturday night match up with puck drop at 8 PM, while Sunday the two teams will take to the ice at 1:30.

Where the Rampage land in the CIHL West standings and where their playoff trek may take them will be revealed once the CIHL wraps up the regular season on Sunday, with the conclusion of the Houston Luckies/Williams Lake Stampeders game.

The Rampage however, could provide a boost to their options with a sweep of the Steelheads this coming weekend.

You can find more information on the CIHL from our Results/Schedule page and past items on the Rampage and the CIHL can be found from our archives.