And on Saturday night at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, it was the Terrace River Kings who came into town to take their shot at toppling the Rampage and their perfect record so far in the young CIHL season.
Close to 700 spectators were on hand for the showdown between the regional rivals, the winning streak of five in a row, the talk of the town for the early part of the season as the Rampage offence churned out the goals, while stellar defensive play and strong goal tending kept the record perfect heading towards Remembrance Day.
The Terrace squad brought one of the league's hottest scorers along for the trip and Colin Bell's sniper act on the night helped to bring down the Rhinos, with the visitors holding off a late charge in the third to claim a 4-3 victory, bringing the Rampage win streak to short of number six.
Bell opened the scoring for the visitors with the only goal of the first period at the fifteen minute mark, potting his second of the game within the fist seconds of the second period, sending the River Kings to a 2-0 lead for the first half of the middle frame.
A Rampage response came eleven minutes later as Jacob Santurbano knocked the lead in half with assists going to Brad Goss and Judd Repole.
The Reinbolt's combined for the third Terrace marker on the night as Ben converted a pass from Sam six minutes into the third pushing the River King lead to 3-1, a two goal advantage that lasted until just past the half way mark of the final period.
With eight minutes to go the Rampage launched their quest for a comeback, Brad Goss picking up the goal with Brady Ward and Hayden Long along for the helpers.
A pair of goals came in a flurry with Terrace answering the Rampage goal two minutes later, only to see the Rampage pull back to within one goal at 13:36 as Brad Goss picked up his second goal and third point of the night with Judd Repole claiming the assist.
The push became frantic in the final six and a half minutes, but the River Kings Darren Bealieu held off the charge to secure the win, by games end having turned aside 14 of the 17 shots directed his way.
David Wood got tapped for the loss in the Rampage nets, facing down 24 shots while surrendering four.
Considering the pace of the action, the night was fairly penalty free with but 4 infractions for the River Kings, and five for the Rampage.
The full scoreboard on the night can be reviewed here.
With the loss, the Rampage drop into a tie for the top of the CIHL standings following a weekend that featured a light schedule for the CIHL.
A high scoring match up between the Williams Lake Stampeders and Quesnel Kangaroos, won by the Stamps 8-7 in an OT thriller made for the only other game on tap for week six.
The results and volume of goals from the Cariboo team pushing the Stamps to a slot just above the Rampage in the first place tie.
Those two squads will make for the next competition for the Rampage, with Prince Rupert destined for the bus Friday as they make the long and physically draining trip into the Cariboo.
The Rampage are in Williams Lake on Saturday night for a 7:30 start, Sunday they head back up Highway 97 and a Sunday afternoon match up with the Kangaroos in Quesnel.
You can follow the Ramapge through our Results page here
For a look at more notes on the Rampage and the CIHL see our archive page here.
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