It seems just a few days ago the issue was a lack of goals.
The Burnaby Lakers, a few days removed from scoring just four times in a game that they won, flexed their offensive skills on Tuesday with a resounding 14-2 triumph over the Langley Thunder.
It proved to be a showcase night for some of the club’s righthanded snipers, as Burnaby buried the visiting Thunder with a barrage of shots, with Robert Church leading the way with five goals and three assists.
For the Lakers, who had averaged just over six goals per game over the first eight contests, the offensive explosion was a welcomed sign.
“There are a lot of good goaltenders in this league making it tough to score,” remarked righthander Scott Jones, who contributed three of his own Tuesday. “There are a lot of good defences, but I’m glad we got it over 10 this game -- I think this was the first time this year and that’s good for the confidence.”
Their biggest output prior to this week’s victory were a couple of nines – a win against Langley, and a loss to Victoria. Although goals, and most notably, timely goals, have been at a shortage to start the year, they’ve found a rhythm of sorts now, noted Jones.
“We have a lot of guys like Eli (McLaughlin) and Josh (Byrne), who no one has played with before, so we needed to get everyone into practice,” he said. “Everyone kind of trickled in but now we’ve got a full lineup. There are a lot of unselfish players and anyone can heat up. Our (righthanders) were good this game and the lefties were good the previous game so it’s whoever has the hot stick.”
That proved to be Church, a four-year veteran who helped the Saskatchewan Rush win the National Lacrosse League title four weeks ago. His first of the night came with an extra attacker in the dying seconds of the first period, then followed it up with back-to-back tallies in the second, one of the shorthanded variety.
He’d add a couple on the powerplay to cap a thorough evening. Jones, meanwhile, also netted a shorthanded goal to kick off the third. Picking up a pair each were Jackson Decker and Peter McFetridge, while Jason Jones and Dane Stevens added singles.
For Jones, the whole focus isn’t on goals, but the ‘W’ on the board at the end of the night.
“Our (defence) showed in the past two games, letting in just two goals (each game) that it’s pretty top echelon this league,” said the Port Coquitlam product. “If we can get the offence, put in 10 goals a game I’m pretty confident our defence can keep them to seven or eight and most nights we could win.”
After missing the playoffs last season due to a tiebreaker, the emphasis this time around is to lock up a spot with some degree of comfort. Not so easy, considering the top five spots – with 5-4 Burnaby in fifth – are separated by three points.
For Jones, the playoffs are Job One. As a junior in PoCo, the playoffs were a pipedream.
“My last championship I think was in intermediate, (in) 2007, so that’s a while. I haven’t won a playoff series since I’ve been here so if we can get one of those under our belts and get to the finals, you never know what happens. Anyone can beat anyone on any night in this league,” he said.
The Lakers, who visited New West on Thursday (past the NOW’s deadline) host sixth-place Nanaimo at the Copeland Arena on Tuesday.
