Coming into this past weekend, the Langley Rivermen were riding a five game losing streak, all five of these losses were on the road. The rough patch saw the Rivermen fall to the Coquitlam Express and Prince Geroge Spruce Kings twice along with the Merrit Centennials once. The Rivermen were outscored 21-7 during these games. They returned home this past Friday hoping the home crowd could help spark a win, the only thing standing in their way was the Chilliwack Chiefs.
Rivermen edge the Chiefs
RIV WIN
Devin Leduc wins it in overtime as the Rivermen take down the Chiefs in a barn burner at the Lodge
Next Game: Sunday afternoon at Surrey pic.twitter.com/VCXVGlVNwk
— Langley Rivermen (@LangleyRivermen) November 9, 2019
The Chilliwack Chiefs made the short trip over to Langley for a Friday night divisional game. The Rivermen were coming off five straight losses and needed to dictate the play from the start of the game. The Chiefs opened up the scoring early into the first period, but the Rivermen found the scoresheet twice as Sean Bunting and Tristan Fraser each scored before the end of the period. The second saw the Chiefs score shorthanded only 35 seconds in. However, Brendan Budy scored a powerplay goal shortly after that to double the Rivermen’s lead. Joseph Musa added a goal late in the period to have Langley up 4-3 going into the third. The third period was packed with action as the Chiefs outshot the Rivermen 11-2. Veteran defensemen Jake Livingstone added a power play goal for Langley, but the Chiefs scored twice including one in the final minute of the game to tie it 5-5. Only 60 seconds of overtime was needed on this night, as Devin Leduc ended it quickly for the Riv, with assists to Jonathan Stein and Ryan Helliwell. You could almost feel the arena take a nice deep breath after the game, the Rivermen are back in the win column. Next up – Surrey.
Rivermen down the Eagles
RIV WIN
Jake Livingstone ties it late and Brendan Budy pots the shootout winner in a 2-1 triumph over Surrey
Next Game: Friday vs. Vernon at the Lodge pic.twitter.com/2ZR69i7Ncl
— Langley Rivermen (@LangleyRivermen) November 11, 2019
The Rivermen headed down the road to play a Sunday matinee game against the rival Surrey Eagles. In a very low scoring game, the Rivermen were able to control the play for most of the game as they out shot the Eagles 40-22. The power play got a lot of work in this game for Langley, however it was not able to capitalize, going 0-7. The Eagles opened up the scoring in the first period and the Rivermen didn’t answer until the third period as Livingstone scored his sixth of the season. Overtime didn’t solve anything, so a shootout was needed. Goaltender Braedon Fleming stopped all three Eagles shooters he faced and Budy scored the only goal in the shootout as the Rivermen won 2-1. A weekend full of hockey had the Rivermen players leaving with smiles as they strung together back to back wins.
Moving forward, the Rivermen welcome the Vernon Vipers to the Lodge on Friday, November 15th.
Team Stats
Forward Brendan Budy is currently fourth in the league with 32 points in 23 games.
Defensemen Jake Livingstone is second for defencemen in goal scoring with six goals in 22 games and fourth among all players with 18 assists.
Goaltender Braedon Fleming leads the league in minutes played with 1183 in 21 games.
