Jordan Weir sets the pace for Rampage with key win over Smithers prior to one month hiatus

With a one month break now underway for the Prince Rupert Rampage, this weekends trip to Smithers was a key game in these early stages of the season, with the Rhinos successfully reeling in the Steelheads at the Pond on Saturday night to claim another two points for the win column prior to their extended leave of absence from the CIHL schedule.

Jordan Weir continued with his hot hand on the ice Saturday, with a  hat trick for the night on the way to a 4-3 victory for Prince Rupert over their Smithers hosts. Weir's three goal string only interrupted by Tylor Ostrom's marker midway through the final frame of the night.

Weir set the Rampage scoring machine in motion in the second period as he answered the Smithers lead of the first frame with the only goal of period two,  assisted by Jean Luc Rendell-Fournier and Judd Repole.

A go ahead marker for the Steelheads early in the third period would set the pace of a frantic third, with the Rampage sniper back on mark at close to eight minutes of the final period, with assists going to Repole again and Jacob Santurbano.

Ostrom claimed his marker at 9:25 of the third, with Repole and Santurbano again in on the playmaking.

Just over two minutes later the third and final marker for Weir was recorded, with Cole Morris picking up the helper.

A night full assists for Rampage
Judd Repole has kept him atop the
list of CIHL scorers
(photo from Rampage twitter feed)

The Steelheads would pick up a late period marker to make it close, with the Rampage shutting the door to further incursions for the final twenty four second of the game.

Tomoki Yoshizawa picked up the win, turning aside 33 of the 36 Smithers shots on net, while Matthew St. Ong. was tagged for the loss in the Smithers nets facing 44 shots on the night, four of which found the mark.

It was a physical night at the Pond for both teams, with the middle frame featuring the roughest of play of the night, the parade to the penalty box found 11 infractions assessed to the Rampage for a total of 22 minutes.

The Steelheads served 18 minutes on 9 infractions on the night.

A look at the full box score for the night can be found here.

The scoring surge of the last month has helped to place three Rampage players into the Top Five of CIHL scoring leaders on the season so far, with Judd Repole once again leading the league  with 4 goals and 10 assists, he's followed by fellow Rhinos Kory Movold and Jordan Weir.

The win keeps the Rampage atop the league Standings with 10 points based on five wins and one loss so far in the 2019-20 campaign.

However, that snapshot for the end of October will change quite a bit by the time the Rhinos next hit the ice in real game action. With a quirk in the schedule now finding the Rampage on the bench until November 30th when they welcome the Kitimat Ice Demons to the Jim.

Considering their hot start, the break in play comes at a somewhat inopportune time, just as they seemed to be getting on a roll.

With one month away from competitive action, the temptations of the buffet line will have to be countered by some in town practices as they look to keep their skills sharp before their return to work for December.

For updates on the Rampage follow their latest notes from the Facebook page and twitter feed.

A look a more notes from the CIHL can be reviewed from our archive page.