There were some pretty goals.
And there were a couple of lucky bounces.
In the end, the Corner Brook Royals outlasted the Stephenville Jets by a 6-1 margin in a hard-hitting, penalty-filled West Coast Senior Hockey League game Friday night at the Corner Brook Civic Centre.
Before the game, the Royals retired the No. 20 jersey of former player Terry Gillam.
Bodies were flying and several players had to leave the ice after big collisions as both teams opted to play a punishing brand of hockey until they both appeared tired as the pace slowed down in the later stages of the game.
At one point late in the third period, there were five players from the Jets and six from the Royals sitting in the penalty box with minor penalties and 10-minute misconducts assessed by referees David McCarthy and Mike Fagan after a melee broke out around the player benches.
As for the offensive prowess on this night, Adam Guy opened the scoring in the first when he banked a shot in off Stephenville puckstopper Ryan Hancock from a difficult angle behind the goalline that surprised everybody in the rink.
But, Guy had a highlight reel goal, the game’s second goal, when he broke down the left side and fired a wrist shot high over the glove of Hancock to give the home side a 2-0 advantage.
Wilfred Bellows had luck on his side, putting the Royals up 3-0 when he batted a loose puck out of the air and found its way through the five-hole of Hancock.
One of the hardest hitting players in the game was Kurt Etchegary who had the prettiest goal of the night when he picked up a loose puck and put a toe drag move on a Stephenville defender before firing a wrist shot high over the glove of Hancock to bring the Royals fans out of their seats.
David Budgell had an impressive outing for the Royals with a number of scoring chances being denied before he banged home a loose puck in the slot with the fifth goal of the night for the Royals.
Matt Colbourne rounded out the scoring for the Royals in the dying seconds when he stripped the puck of Jets forward Nathan Ellsworth in front of his own net and fired a quick wrist shot that beat Hancock cleanly on the glove side.
Josh White, ejected late in the game for berating an official with some choice words, scored the lone goal for the Jets on a two-man power play.
On Saturday night, the Jets fell to the Port aux Basques Mariners 7-4 at the Bruce II Arena.
Trent Johanson (2), Darren Dean (2), Greg Edgar (2) and Luke Parsons got on the board for the Mariners.
Shane Columbe, Nathan Ellsworth, Cory Perrier and Nolan Pearsons replied in the losing cause.
League action resumes 8 p.m. Friday in Corner Brook as the Royals entertain the Mariners.
