By Shaun Thomas - The Northern View
Published: November 09, 2010 11:00 PM

The Prince Rupert Rampage picked up their first points of the season in a hard fought, entertaining game against the Kitimat Ice Demons.

Both teams came out skating fast and hitting hard to open the game, with Kitimat looking to reverse their three game losing streak and the Rampage looking to take their first official win of the season after their victory over Terrace was overturned by the league. Rampage special teams were called on early, as the team killed a 5-on-3 just four minutes into the period, but the big difference-makers were Rampage goaltender Keith Movold and Demons netminder Jamie Moran, who made some great saves throughout the first to keep things scoreless until late in the frame. After Rupert missed out on a great scoring opportunity, the Ice Demons picked up the puck and went back up the ice where Ian Coleman put one past a sprawling Movold to open the scoring with 4:20 to play. While the Rampage had opportunities late in the frame, including Rob Millar dekeing his way in close and Moran stopping a rebound right in front, the physical first period ended 1-0 for the visitors.

In the second period, Brett Stava tied things up by beating Moran low-stick side just 6:13 into the period and brother Colt Stava put the Rampage up with 2:45 to play as he tipped home a cross-ice pass from JT Ward. The period ended with a scrum in the corner, setting the stage for an exciting finale to the game.

The third started with the Ice Demons pushing the pace and pressuring the Rampage, but Movold made some big saves early including a kick save that robbed the Demons of the tying goal. Shortly after that though Kitimat would tie up the game in a unique set of circumstances. A blast from the point by Josh Marsh appeared to beat Movold and bounce back out, and while Marsh celebrated and most of the arena awaited the face off, play continued, albeit somewhat disjointed, as the ref didn’t call the goal. When play stopped a minute later, the linesmen and the ref conferred and it was called goal. Back and forth action with some more great saves by the two netminders resulted in a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation, sending the game to a shootout.

Kitimat’s Blaine Markwart started off the shootout but a kicksave by Movold denied him the goal, while Colt Stava for Prince Rupert was denied by Moran. In the second round, Ice Demons captain Derek Wakita and the Rampage’s Brett Stava were stopped. Daniel Mayer of Kitimat was also stopped in the third round, leaving the game on the stick of Rob Millar, who made no mistake and went high glove-side to give Prince Rupert the win.

After the game there was a bit of an altercation that resulted from the Rampage celebrating in front of the Ice Demons bench, something Millar said he was disappointed in himself for and something that was not meant to be showboating but rather was emotion that carried over from the last game the two teams played.

“When I was skating down the ice [in the shootout] I was just seeing red, I didn’t see the puck go in....I didn’t know what I was going to do, I was just [angry],” he said following the game.

As for the game itself, head coach Frank Pyde attributes the win to the players playing with intensity and keeping that intensity up for the whole 60 minutes.

“Everyone contributed tonight, maybe not on the scoresheet but they were forechecking hard, playing the body and working the backcheck,” he said, adding that the team will need that intensity when they make the longest road trip in franchise history for the first ever meeting between the Rampage and the Williams Lake Stampeders.

The next home game for the Rampage will be on November 20 as the Ice Demons return to the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, a game that is followed by back-to-back home games against the Hazelton Wolverines on November 27 and 28.

Show boating? Ever see Kitimat win a game? Now thats show boating. Every goal they ever score they show boat. Looks good on ya.