After picking up three out of four points last weekend, the 100 Mile House Wranglers are in second place in the Doug Birks Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
The lads have 10 points and are five points behind the division-leading Revelstoke Grizzlies and two points up on the Chase Heat.
The Wranglers skated to a 4-0 shutout over their nemesis Kamloops Storm at home on Oct. 6.
It was Jakob Severson’s first game back with the 100 Mile squad and he looked comfortable and confident between the pipes, stopping all 27 shots the Storm fired at him.
He was selected as the Wranglers star of game.
Assistant coach Chris Langton says Severson stood on his head to get the shutout.
Kamloops stormed the net, but the D-men and forwards came back to lay bodies on them and limited the close-in chances and rebounds.
The Wranglers definitely dominated the game when they separated their checks from the puck, so a teammate could pick it up.
Langton said the coaching staff was pleased with the way the boys played.
“They definitely stuck with the game plan. I felt we were hitting them hard and you see when we were forechecking them, they were kind of giving up the puck.
“The kids are buying in very well. But it’s still early yet.”
Rob Raju scored the game winner with a beautiful goal at 2:21 of the first period when he picked up a loose puck at centre ice and went in all alone against the Storm goalie. With nice stick handling, he found the back of the net.
Raju (Kevin Fillier, Julien Dewey) also scored the insurance goal at the 7:51 mark of the second stanza.
Frazer Dodd (Darian Long, Nolan Parr) gave the Wranglers the 3-0 lead at 14:37 of the third period.
Parr (Long) closed out the scoring at 2:28.
Fit to be tied
The Wranglers had to settle for a 3-3 tie against the Sicamous Eagles on the road on Oct. 7.
Raju (Kevin Fillier, Justin Bond) continued his goal streak with a power play marker at 16:40 of the first frame for a 1-0 lead.
Six minutes later, Julien Dewey (Bond) gave the Wranglers a 2-0 lead going into the second stanza.
The Eagles halved the lead to 2-1 with a goal at 7:43 of the second stanza.
Kolby Page (Joel Patsey, Fillier) got the two-goal lead back at the 2:42 of the second.
However, Sicamous took only 12 seconds to get that one back.
The score remained 3-2 until there were 33 seconds left on the clock when the home team cashed in a man advantage opportunity.
Nothing was resolved in the two power play periods.
Team captain Bond was selected as the Wranglers star of the game.
Langton says the Wranglers had a strong first period and they got off to a 2-0 lead, which is what the players had discussed about before the game.
“After that, I don’t know if we got complacent or we got bus legs.
“Sicamous is a proud team and they’re hungry for their first win and we ran into a good goaltender – he was outstanding.
“We got nine shots in the two overtime periods and rang three off the posts. We had our chances but couldn’t put the puck in the net.
The Wranglers have a couple of stiff tests coming as they host the Osoyoos Coyotes on Oct. 13 and the Princeton Posse on Oct. 14.