vs. 
In what may be a future playoff series showdown in the Tom Shaw Conference, the two top PIJHL engaged in a surprisingly defensive battle. Richmond could only manage to get two goals into the net, but it was enough for a 2-1 victory and a four point PIJHL standings lead.
Coming into the game Richmond was on a bit of a snide after losing two of their last three games. This after losing only one game of their first twenty-one games. While the Ice Hawks came in red hot, winners of six straight and eight of their last nine games. Their only loss in that span was to Richmond back on November 22nd a 5-1 loss.
Normally these two offensively skilled teams engage in a scoring showdown, after all the Ice Hawks and Sockeyes are the two top scoring teams in the PIJHL as well. But this game was a battle of goaltenders. Former North Delta Devils goalie Alex Ahnert for the Ice Hawks and Jonah Imoo, the leagues top goalie for the Sockeyes.
Jonah Imoo, who went undefeated in his thirteen game, was in net for the two losses to the Devils. In this game he played unbelievable making 33 saves for the win. There were two absolutely huge opportunities for the Ice Hawks to take the lead, the first was a shorthanded penalty shot awarded to Aaron Merrick after he was hauled down. Merrick came in and fired a shot on net in close, but Imoo was there to stand tall and make the save to keep in scoreless. The best chance though was a 2 on 1 late in the game where Imoo made one of the biggest kick saves ever to keep the game deadlocked. This was undoubtedly a "save-of-the-year" candidate.
On the Ice Hawks side, back-up goalie Alex Ahnert was just as good in net for Delta, he made 40 saves. Ahnert kept the game close and made key stops on Sockeyes rushes to preserve the 0-0 score. It wasn't until 9:07 of the third period that he was finally able to be beaten. On an elbowing penalty to Mark Whiteley, the Sockeyes went to their sixth power play, they didn't capitalize on their first five. This time though they wouldn't make that mistake. After a faceoff win and some movement inside the Ice Hawks zone. Ryan Copper made a huge play to step to the point after playing forward. Cooper held the line in defense of his defense and got the puck right to Kevan Kilistoff and he snuck inside the circle and ripped a shot past Ahnert for a 1-0 lead, second assist went to Mike Ball.
The game looked like it had been a case of whoever scored first would win, and as the time was winding down it appeared that way. But the Ice Hawks had other ideas as PIJHL leading scorer Spencer Traher tipped home an Anthony Brito shots that got past Imoo to tie the game with under four minutes left.
So once again we were heading to overtime...or so we thought. Just twenty-four seconds later. Sockeyes newest player and defenseman Dylan Smith got the puck at the point and slapped home his first PIJHL goal and it was the game winner. The puck came off his stick and got deflected past Ahnert with 3:25 left in the game. The Sockeyes would run out the clock and take a 2-1 win for a four point PIJHL lead, and have two games at hand on the Delta Ice Hawks.
In four games against the Ice Hawks, Richmond has won all four and outscored their Massey Tunnel rivals 15-7.
A big shoutout to Dylan Smith who comes from the North American Hockey Leagues Dawson Creek Rage. He had previously played in Sicamous, Lloydminster, and Salmon Arm. He is a North Delta Minor Hockey League player and we look forward to seeing what he brings to the Sockeyes backend.
Richmond will now play North Vancouver Wolf Pack on Saturday at the Harry Jerome Arena. Their next home game will be Thursday the 22nd against the Grandview Steelers, if you can't make it to the game you can catch it on the web on SockeyesTV pregame show at 7:15 www.richmondsockeyes.com
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