In an 5-4 Rage exhibition loss Wednesday night that fittingly saw a local kid score the team’s first-ever goal in the EnCana Events Centre, Dawson Creek overcame a sluggish start and gave fans some idea of the sort of team and level of play they can expect when the North American Hockey League season opens later this month.

The Rage were coming off a 4-1 loss to the same Storm club in Grande Prairie Tuesday night and, for a while last night it looked as if the score was heading in the same direction.

The Storm found themselves in front 3-0 by 16:36 of the first after John Girman cut across the crease and flipped the puck past Rage netminder Jack Surgenor to open the scoring at 11:49; that was followed by Tanner Fritz’s goal during a scramble in front at 15:28; and then a minute later Darren Kramer’s shot on a quick pass out front.

“I think we really started slow and didn’t have that energy that I think we had last (Tuesday) night and that enthusiasm,” said Rage coach and general manager Scott Robinson.

“But once we did get a softer goal on their team, from there on in we were good the rest of the way and played very hard, and for a while they couldn’t handle what we were doing and our speed was getting to them.”

That softer goal came off the stick of Tyson McCallum. It wasn’t a spectacular goal – in fact the Grade 12 South Peace Secondary School student didn’t even realize it was in. His wrist shot hit netminder Kenny Cameron’s glove, bounced over the Storm goalie and rolled across the goal-line to make it 3-1, and, appropriately, a Dawson Creek player put his name in the Rage stats book for the team’s first-ever goal on home ice.

“I didn’t even know it went in. I just heard the crowd react… but it was a good feeling,” recalled McCallum of his goal at 17:55.

And that ignited the Rage, who went on to score three straight goals.

Two minutes after McCallum’s goal, Jason Wark broke in on Cameron’s left and found a hole that made it 3-2.
Wark converted Blaine Bokenfohr’s pass in front to knot the score at 12:57 of the second, and Jon Johannesson made it 4-3 for the Rage when he chipped the puck past the Grande Prairie netminder.

With just under 90 seconds left in the second frame Girman capitalized on a weak clearing attempt in the Dawson Creek zone and tipped a shot past Rage goalie Andrew Walsh, who played the second half of the game in the Rage net.

Midway through the third, with the score tied 4-4, Jordan Forfar was allowed to work his way across the slot and swept the puck around Walsh to score the winner in a game that was much closer than the one 24 hours earlier in Grande Prairie.

“The play was a lot more even tonight. I think we were less nervous, which we expected because we did have 10 or 12 guys who have played, but, for us, with our age and our experience level we have got to be at that high-energy level,” said Robinson.

“We had eight new guys in there tonight who had to deal with nerves of the first game, so now that they have all got those out of the way I think they will just get better.”

The Rage will have an opportunity to get better Friday night when they host the Quesnel Millionaires at 7 p.m. and the Prince George Spruce Kings Saturday at 7 p.m.