The Richmond Sockeyes’ early season funk has put them in unfamiliar territory.
The Sockeyes will be looking to escape from the basement of the Pacific Junior Hockey League’s Tom Shaw Conference when the Mission City Outlaws visit Minoru Areanas on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Richmond fell to just 3-6-1-2 on the season with a pair of losses last week, including a 6-2 result to the Port Moody Panthers on Saturday.
The teams were actually tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes when the hosts took control with three unanswered goals by the 6:10 mark of the third. Jackson Munro’s power play goal pulled the Sockeyes back within two, with nine minutes remaining, but the Panthers sealed the outcome on a pair from Logan Hunter, firing 48 shots at goaltender Merek Pipes.
It was a similar script two nights earlier at Minoru where the Delta Ice Hawks broke a tight game wide open with a big third period in a 6-1 win.
The hosts seemingly had momentum for the final 20 minutes when Connor Alderson made it 2-1 game in the late stages of the middle stanza. However, the Ice Hawks scored four times in the third to put the game well out of reach. Again, the Sockeyes gave up too many shots with goalie Kurt Russell, facing 44, including 17 in the third.
