The BC Major Midget Kootenay Ice dropped both matches to the Thompson Blazers on the weekend in two very different ways.
The Ice played the Blazers to a 2-2 draw through two periods on Saturday at the Cominco Arena, but the Blazers scored three in the final frame for a close 5-3 victory, then tallied four goals in each the second and third periods on Sunday for an 11-2 drubbing.
In Saturday’s match, following a scoreless first period, the Blazers netted two goals in the opening two minutes of the second period to take a 2-0 lead. However, Ice forward Slade Desharnais tallied his first goal with the Kootenay team on an unassisted play midway through the period to cut the lead to 2-1.
Whitehorse product Wyatt Peterson converted a setup from Mason McLeod and Anthony Williams to draw the Ice even at 2:53. But the Blazers opened it up in the third, with Connor Milburn beating Tenzin Mint for a 3-2 lead at 17:22, and BCMML leading scorer Logan Stankoven making it 4-2 on an unassisted effort at 14:32.
Reagan Milburn finished the scoring for Thompson with 8:14 to play, and Ice forward Caleb Goncalves notched his fifth of the season with 61 seconds left on the clock for the 5-3 final.
In Sunday’s match, Stankoven showed why he’s the league’s top point-getter scoring three goals and adding three assists in the 11-2 win for the Blazers.
Stankoven set up Connor Milburn two minutes in, then scored back-to-back goals to give Thompson a 3-1 first-period lead.
Undisciplined penalties, missed assignments, and breakdowns in the defensive zone all contributed to the Kootenay’s sixth straight loss, as the Blazers scored four each in the second and third periods on the way to their ninth win of the season.
Stankoven’s six-point game gives the Kamloops native 21 goals and 36 points in 14 games this year, 10 points more than second place Chase Dafoe (10-16-26) of the Okanagan Rockets. Connor Milburn scored twice with singles going to Cole Howaniec, Aidan Sutter, Brendan Kirschner, Reagan Milburn, Luke Bateman, and Taylor Howard.
Caleb Goncalves and Dawson Reinfjell replied for Kootenay.
Frustration is setting in, as Kootenay has racked up the league’s most penalties, averaging close to 27-minutes in penalties per game, compared to 12-pims per game for the league-leading Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
With the losses, Kootenay sits tied for last place in the 11-team league with a 3-11-0-0 record, and travel to Burnaby this weekend to take on the second place Vancouver North East Chiefs (9-4-2-1).
