Braves force Game six Tuesday by stopping Nelson 3-0
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Leafs missed a golden opportunity to get some rest before an expected showdown with the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in next round of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Leafs dropped another egg Monday night in Game five of the Murdoch Semi Final, losing 3-0 to the Spokane Braves at the NDCC Arena.
Nelson continues to hold a 3-2 advantage in the series. But the Leafs now must travel to the Lilac City Tuesday for Game six.
And what if the Murdoch Division regular season champs can’t clinch the series Tuesday in Spokane?
Then the Green and White faces a must win in Game seven Wednesday night back in the Heritage City.
The night did not start well for the Leafs as Johnny Marzec staked the visitors to a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the contest.
Spokane then put the power play to work in the second period, getting goals from Kurtis Reading and Sean Collins to take a 3-0 advantage into the third period.
The Braves then rode the solid netminder of Jon Manlow to victory and another home date Tuesday.
PLAYOFF NOTES: Beaver Valley outlasted Castlegar 6-5 Sunday to sweep the other Murdoch Division Semi Final. Hawks led 6-2 after 40 minutes before the Rebels, the defending KIJHL champs, stages a late third-period rally. . . . The KIJHL announced its divisional award winners and to no one’s surprise, Leafs Jamie Vlanich was named the Most Valuable Player in the Murdoch Division. Vlanich, who missed another game in the Leafs/Braves series Monday, also won the Top Scorer honour with 35 goals, 62 assists for 97 points. Leaf winger Alec Wilkinson won the Murdoch Rookie-of-the-year award. Archie McKinnon (Top Defenceman) and Ryan Edwards (Most Sportsmanlike) earned awards for Beaver Valley while Jon Manlow (Top Netminder) and Garry Redding (Coach of the Year) earned special praise for Spokane. . . . In the Eddie Mountain Division, Creston took home four awards.
