Cages were all the rage last night as the Kootenay Ice got first career goals from fellows in full face masks and beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-1.

Sam Reinhart, all of 14 years of age, scored the winner in his first ever game in the WHL. Having assisted on that one, sophomore Luke Paulsen followed up with a shorthanded milestone marker for insurance.

Reinhart has to wear the mask because he's still playing midget hockey; Paulsen has been covering his face since taking a puck in the mouth in practice last Friday. He'll find out soon if his front tooth — currently glued in — will have to come out.

After a three-point night, the 18-year-old joked about keeping the cage on anyway.

"Joey Leach scored his first goal in a cage too, when he was 16 years old. Who knows? A lot of guys are starting to get them so maybe I'll just keep it on a little longer, see what happens," he said.

Last night's game had been tied 1-1 after first-period powerplay goals from James Martin and Jordan Hickmott. The score remained unchanged until 1:19 into the final frame.

That's when Reinhart — the youngest of three siblings playing in the game — made his indelible mark on the game.

Linemate Jesse Ismond led an odd-man rush on the Edmonton end, and chipped the puck past a pinching Oil King defender.

"I did a quick look and saw that it was Sam and (Christian) Magnus on a 3-on-1 with me, and I didn't have too many thoughts in my head passing to Mags there," said Ismond, laughing. "I thought I'd try and get it across to Sam and I'm lucky enough it did and he got it in."

Seeing the play develop, Kootenay's 2010 first-round draft pick said he knew he had to skate as hard as he could to the side of the net.

"I didn't really see the puck coming, but sure enough it was right on my stick and I just tapped it in," said Reinhart, who has a heck of a story to tell his major midget teammates when he gets back to Vancouver.

"Obviously it's going to be fun. I haven't really thought about it much, but it's exciting."

Head coach Kris Knoblauch was impressed with the offensive prowess Reinhart showed, centering arguably last night's best line.

"I thought they created most of the chances," said Knoblauch. "Sam is only 14 and he's playing against 20-year-olds. That's six years difference. It was a very good game, and it's very difficult for those young guys to come in here."

Seeing Max Reinhart's little brother score helped spark Paulsen, who was working on game No. 59 of his career.

"After Sam scored, I think Luke's quote was, 'He's been here one game and he scores? I've been here two years and I haven't scored.' So it was nice to see Luke Paulsen get the first of his career too," said Knoblauch.

The Ice had just finished killing off a 46-second 5-on-3 when Paulsen exited the penalty box.

"I was actually coming to change and I saw James Martin fired it off the glass and it came right out to me," said Paulsen. "I just had a free lane from there and I went in. I just saw five-hole and I picked it."

Brendan Hurley got his first of the season five minutes later, tipping a Jagger Dirk point shot.

At the other end of the rink, Nathan Lieuwen made 26 saves, several of the spectacular variety.

Late in the second period he stopped Griffin Reinhart on a point-blank powerplay blast to keep the game tied.

Early in the third he blocked T.J. Foster's shot from the top of the crease, and a couple of mintues later he robbed Rhett Rachinksi, diving across the blue paint to keep the puck out and his team ahead.

"Lou came up with some huge saves on the power play there," said Ismond. "When he doesn't get a star, it just means everybody is going… I thought everybody played their roles well and Lou especially."

Last night marks Kootenay's second game in a row in which they entered the third period tied and won by three.

Knoblauch said the resultant confidence can go two ways.

"Guys can take the night off and figure they can show up for a few minutes and win a hockey game. On the other hand, it's good to have that confidence — when things haven't gone well, guys aren't hitting the panic button," he said. "I think it starts with goaltending. Nathan Lieuwen never gave them a reason to panic. He was calm, he was steady in there. It gives the team a lot of confidence."

Last night was Kootenay's first since releasing 20-year-old Todd Mathews and re-assigning a pair of 1993 forwards.

"It's a big win for us when you get everybody in place and you're trying to make a name for yourself," said Ismond. "We're trying to string some wins together here."