A four-minute lapse midway through the second period proved lethal for the Campbell River Storm.
The defending Cyclone Taylor Cup champions were railroaded 7-2 by the Mission City Outlaws in the 2016 opener of the provincial Junior B championship at Archie Browning Sports Centre late Thursday afternoon.
Kolby Steen, Ryan Sharma and Brody Dyck scored goals 240 seconds apart by the 13:58 mark of the middle frame to pace the Outlaws to the victory, subsequently chasing Storm starting netminder Jake Mullen in his return to the Campbell River roster.
Mullen made just 10 saves while backup Riley Welyk stopped nine shots.
In the late game, the 2016 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League-champion Victoria Cougars edged the Kootenay International Hockey League rep, 100 Mile House Wranglers, 4-2.
Mission City faces 100 Mile House today at 4 p.m., while the Cougars and Storm hook up yet again at 7:30 p.m. Victoria dumped Campbell River in six games in the VIJHL final series.
On Day 1, the Outlaws broke the barn door open in the second.
鈥淭he quick goals set us up nicely. We live off offence. That鈥檚 what our team tries to produce on a nightly basis. We like to score,鈥� said head coach Brad Veitch. 鈥淭he guys are feeling good after that and hopefully it carries over.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here to win,鈥� he added of his team鈥檚 expectations. 鈥淲e think we have a team 鈥� I wouldn鈥檛 say we鈥檙e the favourites, but we鈥檝e watched everyone and we think we can win.鈥�
They proved they can score in bunches with the flurry that chased Mullen. Kyle Lennea, with his second goal of the game, and Bryce Pisiak then tallied 5-on-3 power-play goals 43 seconds apart in the first seven minutes of the third on Welyk to temper the Storm for good.
Aaron Brewer gave Campbell River the opening goal of the tournament as he snapped the puck top corner, blocker side on Outlaws netminder Jeffrey Veitch at 5:10 of the first.
Lennea got in behind the Storm defence with his speed to tie it as he buried the puck up high on Mullen at 7:43. Brock Padgham gave Mission City its first lead with an unassisted marker just under four minutes later for the Pacific Junior Hockey League champs. Kobe Oishi evened it up at 2-2 at 5:45 of the second for the Storm.
In the evening game, Nathan Looysen, with a pair, Jordan Passmore and Cody Hodges (empty net) scored for the Cougars, while Tyler Povelofskie and Justin Bond replied for the Wranglers.
