The Maple Ridge Burrards had a great weekend on Vancouver Island with a pair of wins.
They first took down the top-rated Victoria Shamrocks Friday 10-9, before posting an 11-8 win on Saturday against the Nanaimo Timbermen.
The results moved the Burrards into second place in the WLA standings with a 6-3-0 record.
The games were chances of redemption for the Burrards, who lost their previous matches against both teams.
Friday’s game in Victoria started strong for the Shamrocks, who scored the night’s first three goals.
The Burrards soon answered back with three of their own — including one apiece from brothers Ben and Garrett McIntosh — tying the game less than three minutes before the first period ended. Victoria broke the tie 30 seconds later.
By the end of the second period, the Shamrocks were celebrating a 7-5 lead.
After they upped the lead to 8-5 five minutes into the third, the Burrards had had enough.
They scored five goals within the next five minutes, first closing the gap and then taking a 10-8 lead.
Two of those goals were posted back-to-back by second-ranked scorer Mike Mallory, who was awarded the night’s second star.
Luke Gillespie also got two goals in during the same third-period stretch.
A late-period goal from Victoria wasn’t enough to catch up to the on-fire Burrards.
The two teams were evenly matched throughout, with Maple Ridge narrowly outshooting the Shamrocks 40-37, but Burrards goalie Frankie Scigliano held on just enough for the win.
The Burrards took that energy to Nanaimo’s Frank Crane Arena Saturday, where they quickly showed the Timbermen they meant business by posting the first four goals of the night.
Nanaimo made sure to get some points on the board before the period was out, scoring the next two goals.
From there, the Timbermen just couldn’t catch up, as the Burrards held onto their lead throughout the entire game, never letting Nanaimo get less than two points behind.
The second period turned violent when a fight broke out between Burrards defender Owen Barker and Nanaimo’s Kyle Dexter, resulting in 15 penalty minutes for each player.
Ben McIntosh was the top earner for penalty minutes for the game, however, sitting out for 22 minutes total for unsportsmanlike conduct and slashing. He still scored a goal and two assists despite his limited playing time.
A relatively slow third period for both teams, with only a single goal scored by Maple Ridge sandwiched by a duo from Nanaimo, made a comeback attempt unlikely, then impossible.
The weekend was especially kind to Burrards offender Dan Taylor, back for his first games after his stint with the Saskatchewan Rush.
While he did just fine in Victoria with two goals and an assist, he shone brightest on Saturday, where he posted a whopping five goals and another assist — easily earning the game’s first star.
The Burrards are back at home next Tuesday to face off against the Coquitlam Adanacs at 7:45 p.m.