The Fort St. John Flyers picked up their third win of the season Saturday night at the North Peace Arena, a 3-0 decision over the Spirit River Rangers.
Joey Massingham, Alex Nimmo, and Gary Loewen (1 goal, 1 assist) scored for the home team – Massingham’s opener, though, gaining reaction from the Rangers bench who thought it came off a high stick.
“I told the boys tonight I saw a regression in the last three games and it was time to start moving forward,” said Flyers head coach Andrew Leriger following the win.
“It was time to start playing as a team.”
“Gully [goaltender Ty Gullickson] played amazing for us tonight. He stole the game for us. Could have been 4-0 after the first period. Without him, we’re not in it.”
Gullickson turned aside 43 of 43 shots in the ‘chippy’ affair.
“We knew it was going to be physical. We knew we would have to give it back based on the first game of the season. The boys seemed to defend themselves pretty good. I was really impressed,” added the coach.
“The guys played a more solid 50 minutes. Not 60 minutes. They fell asleep there in the first. We played good…better than we have in a while.”
Saturday night was also Teddy Bear Toss Night, a flurry of donated bears thrown onto the ice, as is tradition, after the Flyers’ first goal.
Fans, however, had to wait until the second period before the opening goal was scored.
Saturday’s win, an important one for the Flyers, after being shut out Thursday night 6-0 by the Grande Prairie Athletics, a team they’ll face this coming Saturday night, 8:30 p.m. at the North Peace Arena.
The 3-0 result over the Rangers should also give them some confidence as they travel to Dawson Creek this Thursday night for a road tilt against the Canucks in their other game of the week before the Christmas break.
The Flyers have 3 wins and 7 losses in their first 10 games of the season, third in the West division, and six points back of second-place Grande Prairie and nine behind their next opponent, the 1st-place Canucks.
