The regulation home winning streak is over for the Abbotsford Pilots.
The club lost its first game in regulation at the MSA Arena on Friday, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Mission City Outlaws.
Penalties ended up costing the Pilots, as the Outlaws went three for six with the man advantage. Abbotsford head coach Jim Cowden said the penalty kill wasn’t at its best against Mission.
“We had a lot of chances but took some undisciplined penalties and it hurt us,” he said.
“They scored on the first two power plays and it really kind of set us back. The goals that went in were a little weak, but I’m not worried about our special teams.
“We’re second in the league in power play and before today I think we were third in penalty kill. It was very unusual for us to let up three.”
The Outlaws connected twice on the power play in the first period, with Abbotsford’s Tyler Falk getting the Pilots on the board in the opening frame.
Mission went up 3-1 in the second period, but Abbotsford’s Alexander Methorst made it a one-goal game with a power-play goal early in the third.
Mission added another power-play goal with just over two minutes remaining, taking advantage of a delay-of-game penalty to Abbotsford.
Cowden pointed out that the Pilots were playing without top forward Cameron Obcena, and then lost captain Brady Morton after the first period and key forward Noah Wiebe later on against Mission.
“That’s basically our top line right there,” he said. “We have to regroup. We’ll be fine, and I thought we outplayed them especially in the third.”
Mission goalie Matthew Trulsen earned the first star of the game, making 35 saves in the win, while Abbotsford goalie Gunnar Neilsen stopped 18 shots in the loss.
Despite the loss, Cowden said he’s content with where his team stands nearing the midway point of the season.
“We still have some pieces we need and we need to stay on task and work hard,” he said.
The loss to Mission comes on the heels of a dominant 11-1 win over the Surrey Knights on the road on Nov. 16.
The Pilots scored 11 unanswered goals before Surrey got on the board with 3:51 remaining in the game.
Abbotsford exploded for six goals in the first period, three in the second and two in the third.
Goal scorers in the win were: Mateo Toledo (three), Baylee Wright, Jeremy Zomar (two), Nate Castonguay (two), Noah Wiebe, Ryan Crosby-Jones and Jamie Housch.
Zomar had an impressive five-point night, with Toledo collecting four. Ten different Pilots players recorded multi-point games in the win.
Wright, who picked up three points, remains atop the Pacific Junior Hockey League league leaders in scoring with 52 points in 22 games.
Zomar, Toledo and Castonguay were named the three stars of the game.
Abbotsford goalie Liam Marshall made 26 saves to earn his fifth win on the season.
The Pilots’ record now sits at 16 wins, five losses and two overtime losses and they remain in first place in the PJHL’s Harold Brittain conference.
Abbotsford next hosts the Knights tonight (Friday) at 7:30 p.m. The club then travels to Aldergrove to take on the Kodiaks on Wednesday. The Pilots open December by hosting the Langley Trappers on Dec. 1.
For more on the team, visit abbotsfordpilots.com.