Game preview: Thunder set for rubber match with Salmonbellies

Either the Langley Thunder or New Westminster Salmonbellies will sit in second place following tonight’s Western Lacrosse Association clash at Queen’s Park Arena.

The Thunder enter the contest at 5-6-1 and 11 points while the Salmonbellies sit at 5-6 and 10 points and the teams sit third and fifth, respectively, in the tightly contested WLA standings which see two points separate second place from fifth place. The top four teams will qualify for the post-season.

The game is the rubber match of the two teams’ three-game season series with each winning once: New Westminster prevailed 11-2 on May 29 with Langley taking the rematch 8-5 on June 19. This will be the first of the three played in New Westminster with the game scheduled to get going at 7:30pm.

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Following a 1-5 start to the season for Langley, the Thunder responded with a 4-1-1 mark in their next six games, keeping themselves in the thick of the playoff conversation with six games to go.

The Thunder are coming off a 12-8 win on the road in Nanaimo on July 7 in a game where Aden Walsh not only stopped 51 of 60 shots, but the goaltender also scored into the empty net. Chase Scanlan led the offence with four goals and three assists while Connor Robinson had a pair of goals to go along with five helpers as each scored seven points.

Scanlan leads the Thunder in all offensive categories with 27 goals, 23 assists and 50 points and he sits tied for third in the WLA in goals and fifth in points.

Walsh has a 9.47 goals against average and an .814 save percentage.

New Westminster began the season with four wins in their past five games but beginning with the loss to Langley on June 19, the team lost five of their next six, including the previous four.

The most recent of those defeats was on the road in Victoria on July 5 as they fell 15-13 to the Shamrocks. Will Malcom had five goals and 10 points in the defeat. For the season, Malcom leads the WLA in goals (35) and points (67) as well as points per game (6.1).

New Westminster won the first matchup against Langley 11-2 back on May 29.

In terms of special teams, Langley is second on both the power play (.436) and penalty kill (.609) while the Salmonbellies check in at fourth (.411) and fifth (.583), respectively.

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