The Ridge Meadows Flames dropped their second straight contest the the league-leading Delta Ice Hawks, 3-2 the day before Christmas Eve.
Jayden Genberg scored, from Ryley Lanthier and Paul Georgeopoulos, to give the host junior B Flames a 1-0 lead at Planet Ice.
The Ice Hawks scored the next three goals, however.
Halen Cordoni, from Lanthier and Georgeopoulos, brought the Flames within a goal in the third period, less than a minute after Delta made it 3-1.
But Ridge couldn’t even the score, despite outshooting the Ice Hawks 42-32 overall.
Paul Tucek made 29 saves for the Flames.
The win was Delta’s fourth straight. The Ice Hawks are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games and have not lost a road game in regulation time this season.
The Flames also lost to Delta 6-1 on Dec. 19.
Ridge is now 20-11-1, with 41 points, one behind the Abbotsford Pilots, who lead the Harold Brittain Conference.
Delta is now 27-2, first in the Tom Shaw Conference and first overall in the Pacific Junior Hockey League with 55 points.
BY THE NUMBERS: Cordoni now has 32 points in 22 games since rejoining the Flames … Andrew Strelezki leads the Flames with 35 points in 31 games … Cameron Kovesdi is second in team scoring with 34 points in 31 games …
• The Flames next play on Friday, Jan. 5 in Richmond against the Pilots, 1 p.m. They play the Surrey Knights (1-30-0-1) the next day, also in Richmond, as part of a showcase weekend, at 4 p.m.