By Ian McNaughton

With the final push for the postseason, every win matters at this point of the year. The Burnaby Lakers will look back at this night as a massive step in the right direction as they defeated the New Westminster Salmonbellies 11-10 at Queen’s Park Arena Thursday night. The Lakers now sit alone in the top spot of the WLA standings with 20 points and just two games left to play in the regular season. For New West, they have 18 points as well as two games remaining in the regular season. 

This night belonged to Robert Church, who scored a point on every Lakers goal Thursday. With six goals and five assists, Church now leads the WLA with 76 points and 36 goals, both of which are career highs for him. In net, Eric Penney had 42 saves on 52 shots, which was the most shots he faced since May 29th against the Langley Thunder. Dane Stevens had a solid night himself, getting two goals and five assists, including the eventual game-winner, as he put up seven points for the second straight game. 

On the Bellies side, Keegan Bal had two goals and five assists with thirteen shots. Mitch Jones had two goals on the night while Jordan McBride and Austin Shanks were limited to just two goals combined. Coming off being named goalie of the week, Alexis Buque stopped 36 shots and has continued his streak of starting every game for the Bellies this season. 

Burnaby’s Next Game: 7/21 @ Victoria 6:00 PM

New Westminster’s Next Game: 7/24 @ Langley 7:30 PM

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