A short-sided Williams Lake Stampeders squad split a pair of weekend games on the road against the Terrace River Kings.
With just 15 skaters due to the Thanksgiving holiday Williams Lake fell 3-0 Saturday, before bouncing back to a 7-5 turkey day victory over the River Kings.
In Saturday’s contest the River Kings’ Parker Sheers lit the lamp first, beating Williams Lake netminder Justin Foote 5:41 into the first frame.
Josh Murray notched an unassisted marker in the second for the River Kings, before David Redpath added an empty net goal in the third period to ice the win.
Between the pipes Garrett Muir turned aside all 30 shots for the shutout.
Sunday, the defending Coy Cup Stampeders found themselves, again, down 1-0 after one period with Chris Brown scoring the lone goal of the frame at the 18:46 mark.
In the second period a trio of power play goals from Taylor Stuart (2-0-2), Walter Schmidt (1-1-2) and David Gore (1-1-2), plus an even-strength marker from Stuart Sasges (1-2-3), helped Williams Lake build a 4-3 lead heading into the final frame.
There, Williams Lake’s Greg Nickel (1-0-1), Kenneth Schmidt (1-0-1) and Sasges (empty net) beat Terrace’s Patrick Leal for the win. Scoring for Terrace Sunday were Brown (2-0-2), Murray (1-0-1), Derick Jurista (1-1-2) and Corbin Legros (1-1-2).
Foote made 30 saves in the contest, helping the Stamps to a two-win, one-loss record early in the Central Interior Hockey League season.
Williams Lake returns home to the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex this Saturday, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 19, for a pair of games against its northern rivals, the Quesnel Kangaroos.
The Roos are coming into the weekend following an opening-night 6-4 win against the Prince Rupert Rampage, a 7-3 loss versus the Kitimat Ice Demons on Oct. 6 and a 6-2 loss Oct. 12 against the Lac La Hache Tomahawks. Puck drop both nights is 7:30 p.m. at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.