If recent history was the arbiter of hockey games, the Hazelton Wolverines would be one-up in their CIHL round 1 playoff series against the Prince Rupert Rampage.
But the games are played for a reason and at the end of Game 1 in Prince Rupert Feb. 8, the Rampage had finally turned the tables on the Hazelton squad.
Having been swept out of the playoffs by the Wolverines the last two seasons and not finding a way to beat them during this year's regular season, the Rampage went into the game with something to prove.
Nevertheless, after 20 minutes they found themselves in a 1-0 hole on the lone goal by Hazelton's Joel Patsey.
Period 2 was all Prince Rupert, though, with Brody Hemrich connecting halfway through the frame. Hunter Johnson followed that up with two goals making it 3-1 at the end of 40 minutes.
Johnson was not done. After Tanner Wort closed the gap to 3-2 early in the third, Johnson banged in another for a hat trick and a 4-2 lead.
Thomas Robinson finished up the scoring giving Rupert the 5-2 victory.
Because of the three-game series format in the CIHL, the teams play the first game in the underdog's barn, with games 2 and 3 moving to the higher-finishing team's arena. Hazelton finished the regular season with a 13-4-0-1 record to Ruperts 8-8-0-2.
Game 2 is scheduled for Feb. 15 with Game 3 on the following afternoon in Hazelton if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Smithers Steelheads, having battled to third place in the eastern division with a 6-12-0-0 record were up against the Williams Lake Stampeders (12-4-0-2) Feb. 8 in Smithers. Home ice, though, was no match for the Stamps' potent offence.
While Calvin Johnson managed to get the Steelheads on the scoreboard first, late in the first period, less than a minute later Kyler Wilkinson evened it up for the Stamps.
From there, the game would just get more out of hand as Williams Lake put four on the board in the second period to only one by the Steelheads' Brendan Moore.
The final frame saw more of the same. Smithers' Matthew Tucker opened the scoring to bring the Steelheads back to within two points of the lead, but Williams Lake blasted three more into the Smithers net for a final of 8-3.
Smithers now travels to Williams Lake for Game 2 on Feb. 15 with Game 3 scheduled for Feb. 16 if necessary.
