Allstar Maintenance bucked a mini-slump, as the team won its third game in a row on Thursday with a 6-3 victory over the Arlington in Trail Commercial Hockey League action.
After losing three consecutive games, Allstar stopped its skid with a 5-2 win over league-leading Re/Max, followed by a 6-2 victory over Firebird, and now a big win over the Big A.
Allstar jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead, thanks to a pair of goals from d-man Brady Glover, but it was Ryan Zanussi’s marker at 5:31 that proved to be the winner, when he deposited a Lane Stopanski and Kelly Sidoni setup passed goalie Eric Volpatti.
Former Portland Winterhawk Jake Deadmarsh opened the scoring at 14:05 making no mistake on a Ryan Jenner pass, before Glover potted two goals 2:43 apart to give Allstar a 3-0 lead.
The Arlington would get on the board before period end when speedy playmaker Jeremy Robinson netted his 12th of the season, with assists going to Jake Vlanich and Mike Makway.
Jason Proulx restored the four-goal spread and Jim Maniago made it academic at 9:30 of the third, before two late goals from Kris Davis and Makway made the final 6-3. Stopanski had a three-point night for Allstar, while Makway pitched in with a goal and two assists for the Arlington.
In other action, Re/Max hung on for a 4-2 victory over Firebird. Super slippery Gabe Gaudet netted the winner at 15:12 of the second period, taking a quick pass from Dallas Stanton and rifling it by Firebird puck-stopper Mike Kooznetsoff to make it 3-1.
Graham Proulx, looking for his third straight scoring title, teamed up with Dave Eccles to make it 2-0 early in the first. Proulx netted his 38th and 39th of the season to propel him past the idle OK Tire’s Shaun Venturini in the TCHL scoring race.
The Firebird’s top scorer Craig Clair would draw them to within one thanks to a nice setup from the dynamic Dan Lind. Clair would then return the favour, as Lind made it 3-2 with 5:37 to play in the second period.
But the comeback was stopped short less than a minute later as Stanton scored the insurance marker off a deceptively daring dangle and pass from rock-steady blue-liner Grant Tyson. Goalie Chris McIsaac slammed the door shut in the third to give Re/Max its league best 17th win of the season.
The victory gives the realtors a slim two-point lead on the surging OK Tire, which still have a game in hand with just six games remaining, and two of those against Re/Max.
TCHL action continues Thursday night with Firebird facing Arlington at 7:15 p.m. and Allstar against OK Tire at 8:30 p.m. at the Cominco Arena.