The Maple Ridge Burrards dropped to 2-2 on the season with an 11-8 loss to the visiting New Westminster Salmonbellies on Sunday at Planet Ice.
New West jumped out to a 5-3 lead after the first period, then Ridge tied it 8-8 after two.
But New West’s Jeff Cornwall got the game winner, the insurance goal and the empty netter.
“We had too many breakdowns,” said Burrards coach Chris Gill. “It’s one of those things where you have to be ready to go every shift of every game.”
Ridge was on the wrong side of the referee, and got just one goal on two power plays, compared with New West going three-for-six.
Andrew Murphy and Jarrett Davis each had a goal and three assists. Other scorers were Nick Stone (2), Mike Mallory, Ben McIntosh, Ryan McMichael and Aaron Davis.
Reinforcements are arriving. The Rochester Knighthawks beat the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday night in the NLL Champions Cup Finale
That frees up WLA scoring leader Curtis Dickson, who was the NLL playoff goals leader with 14, and second in points with 28.
Goaltender Frankie Scigliano, the team’s first-round pick in the last entry draft, will also be in goal for one of the weekend games, said Gill.
“We haven’t shown our best yet,” said Gill. “You don’t win it in the first week of the season, you have just got to get better.”
The Burrards will be in Victoria and Nanaimo over the weekend. A third straight road game will see them in New West on June 12. They will host the Burnaby Lakers June 15 at 6:45 p.m. at Planet Ice.