The Parkland Rangers enter the Christmas break riding a four-game winning streak.
The team’s fourth straight win came, Sunday, when they scored a 7-4 home ice win over the Central Plains Capitals.
Alex Campbell led the way with three goals and an assist, while Landyn Garton scored twice.
Dayson Martin and Cade Legaarden had Parkland’s other goals, while Quentin Fisk had four assists.
Ivan Kushchev, Kaelan Waldner, Gavin Davis and Miguel Bonin scored for the Capitals.
Kyle Pelletier earned the win in goal, making 34 saves. Everett Winters took the loss after stopping 48 shots.
The win improves Parkland’s record to 16-12-0-0. They are tied with the Winnipeg Thrashers and Eastman Selects with all three teams sitting with 32 points, though the Rangers have a game in hand on the Thrashers and two in hand on Eastman.
Rangers head coach Tom White said the team was looking to end the year on a high note.
“And the guys did it,” he said.
“It was just a total effort by everybody. We had all four lines going. We were tough to defend, we forechecked hard, put pucks towards the net. Everybody contributed today in this win.”
The forecheck caused numerous turnovers, which the Rangers capitalized on.
“Our forecheck, that’s our bread and butter down deep in the zone. They caused chaos down there, turned pucks over and we capitalized,” White said.
The line of Campbell, Fisk and Martin combined for 10 points, the second straight game they hit double digits after totalling 11 points against Pembina Valley Hawks, Dec.14.
White said they’re success can be attributed to their hard work and tenacity on pucks.
“They’re all skilled guys and when they’re on their game, when they forecheck hard, they’ve all got long sticks, they always have sticks on pucks and they’re turning pucks over and they’re capitalizing,” he said.
“They’re skilled. They’re fast. And they’re tough to stop.”
White hopes the players come back from the break ready for what will be a tough second half of the season.
“We’ve got a tough January stretch coming up here. We’re going in on a high, so we’re looking to keep that going,” he said, adding the Rangers will finally have a full lineup with the returns of captain Sam Swanton and Ryder Gardner.
Parkland’s first game after the break will be Jan. 3, when they host the league-leading Brandon Wheat Kings at 7:30 p.m.