Bad News weekend for Nelson Leafs
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The good news, if there is any when a team drops two of three games during a three-game weekend, is the Nelson Leafs won’t see the Beaver Valley Nitehawks until the final game of the season.
The bad news is the Hawks stole the Leafs thunder for the second time in three days, scoring the winning goal in the final minute of the game to edge Nelson 4-3 in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League action Sunday afternoon in Fruitvale.
The game was rescheduled from December 29th when a power outage postponed the contest in the first period with Nelson leading 1-0.
Morgan Peace provided the heroics for the home side, scoring an unassisted tally past Josh Williams in the Leaf nets.
Friday, Beaver Valley ended Nelson’s five-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory in the Heritage City.
Trailing 1-0 after one period on a goal by Leafs Sawyer Hunt, Beaver Valley outscored the Leafs 3-1 to grab a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Sam Swanson, Nolan Percival and Peace sandwiched goals around a marker by Leafs Keenan Crossman to give the defending KIJHL Champs the one-goal advantage.
Nelson sniper Ryan Cooper tied the game with six minutes remaining before Peace pieced the hearts of the Leafs with the late-game tally.
Nelson outshot the Hawks 36-30 in the contest with Liam Coulter in the Beaver Valley nets registering a second win over the Leafs.
Williams, who had registered shutouts in four previous games, took the loss in goal for Nelson.
Despite the setback, Nelson remains tied for top spot in the Murdoch Division with Castlegar Rebels, each team with 57 points.
Beaver Valley, which has won six straight games, closes the gap on the leaders and now trails top spot by eight points.
Nelson will have a week to lick their wounds before taking to the road for a pair of Murdoch Division games.
Friday, the Leafs travel to Spokane to meet the Braves before venturing west on Highway 3 to play the Border Bruins on Grand Forks.
ICE CHIPS: Nelson bounced back after Friday’s loss to Beaver Valley by edging Grand Forks 4-1 Saturday at the NDCC Arena. Game Star Ryan Cooper scored twice while Ryan Piva and Logun Wullum added singles. Reese Tambellini scored the lone goal for Grand Forks, which trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes. Caiden Kreitz was in goal to pick up the win for Nelson. . . . After winning five consecutive games before the Prospects Games weekend in Kelowna, Nelson has dropped two of three.
