Double-overtime win in Langley clinches ‘Survivor Series’
On Valentine’s night, Surrey Knights sure loved making history with their first PJHL playoff series win since arriving in the city nearly a decade ago.
In Langley, the visiting-team bench erupted when defenseman John Lopez scored in double overtime to give Surrey the best-of-three Survivor Series victory, 5-4 over the Trappers at George Preston Recreation Centre last Friday (Feb. 14).
“It’s been a really long time coming, I guess you could say,” fourth-year coach Andy Liboiron said Tuesday (Feb. 18), game day for the Knights as they prepared to battle Ridge Meadows Flames in the next round of Pacific Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Since moving from Langley in 2016, the Knights have endured many losing seasons, including 2024-25 with 17 wins in 48 games.
“There’s been a lot of lows over the last decade, if you will, so it’s nice to see that we’re doing the right things, the guys are buying in and the program’s getting better every year,” the coach added.
“I’m super happy for all the guys. They’ve been through a lot this year and they’ve really come together over the last month and a bit here, since the (trade) deadline, and we’re really starting to become a team.”
The Knights’ best-of-seven series with league-leading Flames starts Tuesday at Cam Neely Arena, 7:30 p.m. puck drop. Ridge Meadows finished 50 points atop Surrey in the Harold Brittain Conference this season.
“They play the right way, they come at you in waves, and they’ve had a really great season,” Liboiron said of the Brent Hughes-coached Flames. “I think it’s important for us to respect them but not fear them going into this series.”
He said the Knights players are “super pumped to get this far — they’re happy, not satisfied, and they truly believe that they have a chance to make a statement and surprise everybody. I don’t think anybody in the world gives us a chance against Ridge, which is totally OK as long as the guys in the room believe in themselves, then I think we have a chance.”
Against Langley, the Knights opened the Survivor Series with a 4-1 road win, then fell 5-4 in overtime Thursday at North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex.
In the winner-take-all game back in Langley, Knights goals were scored by Kris Ramos, Wendell Adriano, Bronson Sales, Nathaniel Danielson and John Lopez. In net, Joshua Dubreuil stopped 38 of 42 shots in Surrey’s big win.