'Bellies Take Down Islanders

The New Westminster Salmonbellies looked to take over first place with a win at the Sungod Arena when they faced off against the Delta Islanders.

The first period was full of goals, mainly for the Salmonbellies. The 'Bellies got on the board first at 1:42 when Jakob Doucet scored, but the Islanders evened the score at 5:30 with a goal from ex-Bellie Eli McLaughlin.

The Salmonbellies turned up the heat starting at 7:15. Johnny Pearson notched his first of the game, followed by goals from Luke Gillespie, Anthony Malcolm, Josh Byrne and Doucet to make it 6-1 'Bellies with just over five minutes remaining in the period.

The Islanders went on a small run when Chase Fraser scored at 14:29 followed by McLaughlin's second of the game 20 seconds later to make it a 6-3 game, but then Salmonbellies' Connor Robinson scored just over a minute to later to make it 7-3.

Both teams exchanged goals when Salmonbellies' Steven Ferdinandi was in the box for slashing. Goals from Pearson and McLaughlin made the game 8-4.

With under 20 seconds remaining in the period, the 'Bellies called a timeout and just before the buzzer went to end the period, Robinson picked up a rebound and scored his second of the game, giving the 'Bellies a 9-4 lead heading into the locker room.

It was a lot more of the same in the second period with a tad bit more of hatred amongst the two teams.

Byrne netted his second of the game at 1:59 to give the 'Bellies a 10-4 lead, but the Islanders got one back from McLaughlin at 4:32 to make it 10-5.

Salmonbellies' Pearson scored at 5:32 followed by a Robinson power play goal to expand their lead to 7 and then the game got heated. Salmonbellies' Pearson and Islanders' Mike Avery exchanged punches, but it was more of the Pearson show who took advantage of Avery down on the ground. Islanders' Taylor Northway didn't appreciate Pearson continuing the beatdown, so he ended up getting a third man in penalty. The oddness in all of this is that the Islanders ended up with a power play, but that didn't matter. The 'Bellies got shorthanded goals from Malcolm and Byrne to make it 14-5.

McLaughlin continued to dominate for the Islanders as he scored his 5th goal of the game at 15:32, but with 18 seconds remaining in the period, Malcolm netted his 4th of the game to make it 15-6 'Bellies at the end of the second period.

The third period saw both teams call it a night in the goal scoring department, but not the trips to the penalty box.

There were two delay of games, two game misconducts and a high sticking penalty before this game saw another goal. Islanders' Messenger scored on the power play at 10:29, but then Malcolm scored his 5th goal of the game a minute later to give the 'Bellies a 16-7 lead.

Islanders' McLaughlin seemed to be making it a goal scoring contest with Salmonbellies' Malcolm as he scored on the power play at 12:38 to score his 6th goal of the game.

The Islanders were able to notch two more goals past Salmonbellies goaltender Ross Bowman, but that was as close as they would get as the 'Bellies defeated the Islanders 16-10.

Three stars of the game 
1. New Westminster - Anthony Malcolm - 5 goals, 4 assists 
2. New Westminster - Josh Byrne - 3 goals, 6 assists 
3. Delta Islanders - Eli McLaughlin - 6 goals, 2 assists

The Salmonbellies will now head to Coquitlam Sports Centre where the Adanacs will certainly look to avenge their loss against the 'Bellies when they lost 11-5 over at Queens Park back on May 27th. The Islanders will get some rest as their next game won't be till Saturday, June 21st at Sungod Arena when they take on the Nanaimo Timbermen.