The first of the two wins came in the always boisterous environment of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, where the River Kings put an exclamation mark on their playoff run so far, with a strong performance besting the Ramapge by a final of 7-3.
The Friday night showdown started out on the right skate for the Rhinos as Judd Repole picked up the opening goal for the series at 6:57 with an assist going to Tyler Matalone.
That 1-0 lead would hold to the final three minutes when the River Kings picked up the equalizer, sending the two teams to the dressing room tied up at 1 each.
The River Kings came out of the gate flying in the middle frame, picking up a short handed goal two minutes in, followed by another marker three minutes later.
The Rampage cut the deficit by one with another goal from Judd Repole, a power play marker with assists going to Tyler Ostrom and Kory Movold, the goal at 8:07, the last of the scoring plays for period two sending both teams to the room with the River Kings holding a 3-2 lead.
Prince Rupert fans were caught up in the momentum in the third as the fans brought the noise, the team brought the goal, bringing both teams even on the scoreboard at 5:14 when Jordan Weir picked up the third goal for the Rampage with assists for Austin Weir and Cole Atchison.
That burst of energy from the Prince Rupert side however seemed to awaken the league leaders, who quickly put down the insurrection, the River Kings recording four unanswered goals in the final twelve minutes to secure the final score of 7-3.
The night was light on the penalty sheet with but 10 minutes in penalties on the night, 6 minutes for the River Kings, 4 minutes for the Rampage.
Terrace goaltender Patrick Leal turned aside all but three of the fourteen shots he faced, Kieran Sharpe was tagged with the Prince Rupert loss, with the Rampage tender making 23 saves on the thirty shots he faced.
Friday night scoresheet
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The two teams renewed acquaintance twenty four hours later at the Terrace Ice Arena, with the River Kings looking to take down the Rampage in two straight and in the first period it looked like that was but a formality, with the River Kings rattling off four consecutive goals in the first fifteen minutes of the game.
The offensive push sending the home team to the dressing to a loud and sustained applause leading the visiting Rampage by a score of 4-0.
The dressing room speech must have been a barn burner however, as the Rhinos came to the second period fired up and ready to make their push back, with the Prince Rupert boys gaining three goals back in the middle frame.
Kolton Chasse started the push with an assist from Tyler Ostrom at the six minute mark, Cole Morris followed up with an unassisted marker at 14:09, while Austin Weir also had a solo goal three minutes later.
Realizing that they needed to slow down the Rampage plans for a comeback, the River Kings managed to build back to a two goal advantage with their own late period marker, sending the two teams to the dressing room with the Terrace side in the lead by a score of 5-3.
The Rampage picked up on some of their momentum close to midway in the third, with Kory Movold picking up goal number 4 with helpers going to Kolton Chasse and Tyler Matalone.
That burst of energy however would make for the last positive note on the score sheet for the night, with Terrace putting away the victory with a seventh an final goal at 16:41, shutting the door for good in the final three and a half minutes to secure the 6-4 final.
Saturday night was a bit more of a physical night, with the Ramapge picking up 12 minutes of penalty time on six infractions, while Terrace players sat out 20 minutes in the box assessed 10 infractions on the night.
Patrick Leal picked up his second win of the series facing 28 shots on the night, Kieran Sharpe had the heavier load on the evening, with the River Kings firing off 41 shots at the Rampage goaltender.Saturday night scoresheet
The Saturday night loss brought an end to the 2019-20 season for Prince Rupert, who now will look towards September for the quest for a shot at the Coy Cup.
The River Kings now move on to the CIHL Finals, heading for Quesnel this weekend, with the two teams returning to Terrace the first weekend of March to bring the curtain down on the CIHL playoffs.
You can review some of the season wrap notes from the Rampage from their Facebook page here.
A wider overview of the CIHL playoffs can be explored from our archive page here.
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