Much of the praise on the night was directed the way of Rampage goaltender Kieran Sharpe, who held the line as the visitors tried to claim two points from the first of their two game North Coast road trip.
The night was one which saw the two sides exchange scoring opportunities in the first forty minutes of play, the Rampage taking advantage of two power play situations, with a pair of Hunter Johnson goals, first teaming up with Jude Repole and Tyler Ostrom in the opening period.
Johnson had the marker again in the second, with helpers from Cole Atchison and Austin Weir.
Still, despite his stellar offensive work, the North Stars held their own with two goals of their own in the first two periods, sending the teams to the their and a high octane finish for the 525 in attendance at the COVID capacity limited Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.
The final frame was one to keep the fans on edge of their seats as the Rampage jumped to a two goal lead thanks to goals from Austin Weir assisted by Hunter Johnson and Judd Repole and then Repole claiming a goal for his own with Kory Movold with the helper.
Again though, the tenacious North Stars would not quit, making use of a power play marker of their own to get within one goal mid way through the final period.
That goal however was quickly answered by Brody Hemrich at the thirteen minute mark, Cole Atchison once again claiming an assist.
The Nechako crew made things a little nervous for locals, with a puck for the back of the net two and half minutes later, but the door was then shut for good by Sharpe who denied any more scoring to secure the Rampage win.
As we noted in our preview of Friday, the physical play from the interior visitors made for some challenges through the first and second period, with things settling down for the most part in the third, the North Stars turning their attentions towards scoring changes over slashing and rough play penalties.
By games end the North Stars had spent twelve minutes in the penalty box on six penalty calls, the Rampage had a lighter sentence, with just 8 minutes served on four infractions.
The Full boxscore from Saturday is available for review here.
The loss at the Jim, would set the stage for a frustrating weekend for the Nechako invaders, who would find the Kitimat Ice Demons and even tougher challenge dropping the second game of the road trip by a score of 6-2.
The weekend play has started to sort out the standings of who's hot and who needs to regroup with Terrace off to a strong 3-0 start, while the Stampeders in Williams Lake have yet to find a win so far, for the Rampage, Saturday gave them a 2-1 record, with the Ice Demons just slightly ahead based on goals for and against.
For the Rampage, the road now beckons, as the Prince Rupert side hop on the bus for a trip to Kitimat next Saturday night and then prepare for the long distance marathon run to the Cariboo for the 13th and 14th of November with games in Williams Lake and Quesnel.
Unless you're up for a drive, the next chance to see the Rhinos doesn't come up until December 11th, when regional rival the Terrace River Kings make their first visit to the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre in over two years.
Keep up to date with the latest from the Rampage room from their Facebook page here.
For more notes on the CIHL and the Rampage see our archive page.
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