Braves nip Leafs 4-3 to climb to within two points of Murdoch leaders
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Spokane Braves snapped the five-game winning streak of the Nelson Leafs, edging the Murdoch Division leaders 4-3 Sunday in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League action in the Lilac City.
Tanner Stolz and Sean Collins scored less than a minute apart in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie to spark the Braves to the win.
Nelson had just tied the game up in the third period when team captain Aaron Dunlap scored.
Nelson led 1-0 after one period on a goal by Rayce Miller before the Braves took a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes on goals by Collins and Stolz.
Nolan Percival scored the other goal for Nelson.
Adam Maida was in goal to register the loss for Nelson, which out shot the Braves 38-33.
The victory allowed Spokane to climb to within two points of Murdoch Division leading Nelson, dropping to 12-4-2-1.
Beaver Valley and Castlegar are tied for third, each with 23 points.
The Leafs continue a road swing with games next weekend in Creston Friday and back in Spokane Saturday against the Braves.
Leafs Geiger scores hat-trick to spark Murdoch leaders past Rockies
Saturday in Nelson, Aidan Geiger snapped an eight-game goal-scoring slump in a big way Saturday night against the Columbia Valley Rockies.
The Calgary native scored three times, including the winner, to spark the Nelson Leafs to a 4-3 victory over the Eddie Mountain squad at the NDCC Arena.
Geiger scored for the first time since arriving in the Heritage City in early October.
Nelson improves to 12-3-2-1 on the season and maintains a four-point lead in Murdoch Division standings over Beaver Valley.
The Nitehawks pasted Castlegar 7-2 Saturday in Fruitvale.
Geiger opened the scoring in the first period, jumping on a pass to snap a quick shot past Brody Nelson in the Columbia Valley nets.
After Leaf captain Aaron Dunlap scored with 10 seconds remaining in the first period to give Nelson a 2-0 lead.
Geiger increased the margin to 3-0 with a goal in the second period before Rockies scored three straight to tie the game early in the third.
Geiger then scored the winner midway through the final frame to complete the hat trick and give Nelson just enough offense to win for the fifth straight time.
Sam Young, Carter Melnyk and Dario Piva replied for Columbia Valley.
Adam Maida stopped 10 of 13 shots to register the win, his second in as many games. Nelson out shot Columbia Valley 23-13.
Nelson completes its week Sunday with a road date in the Lilac City against Spokane.
LEAF NOTES: Nelson’s leading scorer Matt MacDonald saw his point streak end at eight games. MacDonald is now tied with Robson Cramer for top spot in Leaf scoring after the mobile defenceman recorded two points in Sunday’s loss. Cramer was Nelson’s player of the game . . . Nelson was without head coach Dave McLellan, who was in the South Okanagan watching his son play in a Bantam Hockey Tournament. McLellan is expected back with the team for practice this week. Assistants Sean Dooley, Stathis Dimopoulos and Iain Parent coached the team. . . .Spokane has now won four in a row. . . .Sunday, Columbia Valley lost its fourth straight, and third on this road trip, after dropping a 7-3 decision Sunday in Castlegar.
