Rampage have backs to wall as Hazelton takes first win of Best of Three Series on Friday night

The Prince Rupert Rampage will be working hard tonight to ensure that Sunday brings a bit more hockey for the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre Arena.  

The urgency of the moment coming from a Friday night loss in Hazelton, as the Wolverines claimed a 6-4 victory and took a 1-0 series lead in the Best of Three CIHL West Divisional playoff match up.

That sets the stage for tonight's Game Two, with the home town Rampage needing a win to keep their playoff season alive, the play of Friday one which saw the Wolverines pull away in the third period of a tightly contested match up.

The Hazelton side was coming off a high scoring qualifying game a week before when they put 12 goals in the net against Kitimat; so with six on the night last evening at the Hazelton Arena, it's clear that they have some scoring touch around the net.

The Boxscore for the Friday game is not yet available from the CIHL.

The Rampage who had last week off owing to their First Place finish in the West, will have to ramp things up quickly tonight and take the play to the Hazelton side early on to knock down some of that energy that Wolverines have found for they playoff run so far.

Game time tonight at the Jim is 7 PM, Rampage fans should note that parking will be a challenge this evening as the All Native Basketball Tournament is now into its Championship Saturday games. 

So arriving a bit earlier for the Rampage game will at least give you some chance to secure a spot, though some alternative areas such as PRMS or even CHSS might be an option if required.

Should the Rampage knock down the Hazleton challenge tonight and force a game three, it will take place at the Civic Centre tomorrow at 1PM.

With the Rampage back at home, the Goals for Giving Hope campaign continues on, with $4,900 raised so far for the Salvation Army program. The opportunity to add to the total comes tonight and tomorrow.

More notes on the CIHL and Rampage can be explored here.