Back in Green and White Leafs Vlanich sparks Nelson to road wins
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Back in the Green and White, Leaf sniper Jamie Vlanich made the most of his return, racking up six points to power Nelson to a pair of road victories over Okanagan Conference opposition.
The Trail native, returning to the Leafs following a brief stint with Langley Rivermen of the BCHL, netted four points, including the winner on the power play in the final three minutes of the game to lift Nelson to a 6-5 come-from-behind win over Osoyoos Coyotes Saturday at the Sun Bowl Arena.
Friday, Vlanich shook off the dust to register a pair of assists helping get past Princeton Posse 7-4.
The win not only erased the memory of a 6-5 overtime loss to the Posse last week in Nelson but also help the Leafs snap a three-game losing streak.
The half dozen points gives Vlanich 43 on the season, 10 behind KIJHL leader Nick Josephs of the Kelowna Chiefs.
Nelson, 17-1-1-3 on the season, maintains an eight-point advantage over Beaver Valley Nitehawks in Neil Murdoch standings.
The Nitehawks, edging the Posse 4-3 in overtime Saturday, have won three straight games.
Saturday, Nelson added to a 1-0 first period advantage by scoring twice in the opening five minutes of the second frame to take a 3-0 lead.
However, the Coyotes struck for four goals in the final 14 minutes of the period — three markers coming during a 90-second span — to take a 4-3 lead into the final period.
Colin Chmelka increased the margin to 5-3 with a goal seven minutes into the period.
Travis Wellman started the comeback, scoring his second of the game on the power play with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Linden Horswill tied the contest before Vlanich netted the winner with 2:50 remaining on the game clock.
Also scoring for Nelson was Alex Wilkerson with a pair of goals along with two assists.
Wellman finished with three points while Robson Cramer added a pair of assists from the blueline.
Brendan Smith scored twice to lead the Coyotes.
Nelson scored three times on the power play making a winner out of goalie Tyler Moffat.
Friday, was another wild KIJHL game as again Nelson flexed its offensive power, rallying from a 3-2 deficit with four consecutive goals in the second period.
Patrick Croome, Carsen Willans, Nick Landry, with his first of the season, Tyler Garcia, Wilkerson, Wellman and Darnell St. Pierre scored for the Leafs.
Brad Rebagliati faced 31 shots to register the win in goal.
BLUELINES: The Leafs return home to face the Grand Forks Border Bruins Wednesday at the NDCC Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. . . . Travis Wellman, scoring three times during the weekend road trip, continues to lead the league in goals with 31. . . . Linden Horswill increased his consecutive point streak to nine games with a pair of points. . . .Nelson played both games under the player limit with 17 skaters.
