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Leafs shock Nitehawks again, up 2-0 in Murdoch Final

The Nelson Daily Sports
By The Nelson Daily Sports
March 11th, 2020

Who’d of thunk two games into the Murdoch Division Final, on home ice, no less, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks would have not scored a single goal.

The Nelson Leafs did the unthinkable entering the best-of-seven Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Divisional Final, holding the offensive-minded Hawks scoreless in a 5-0 playoff victory Tuesday night at the Fruitvale Arena.

The win, coupled with a 6-0 shellacking Monday in Game one of the series, gives Nelson a commanding 2-0 lead. The series now shifts back to the NDCC Arena for Games three and four, Thursday and Friday.

Tuesday, the Leafs had the powerplay clicking on all cylinders, going 3-for-9 with the man advantage. Rookie Joe Davidson scored the first of three with the man advantage six minutes into the game to give the visiting team an early 1-0 lead.

Aiden Jenner, with his first of two on the night, made it 2-0 three minutes later before KI playoff scoring leader Shawn Campbell added another powerplay goal to increase Nelson’s advantage.

Leading 3-0, the Leafs turned the game over to Anderson Violette who stopped all 27 shots in the final 40 minutes to register his second shutout of the series.

Jenner, in the second, and Keenan Crossman, with the man advantage, completed the scoring for a Nelson team that has not allowed a goal in more than 180 minutes dating back to the Spokane series.

Nelson outshot Hawks 36-32 in the contest. Hunter Young was in goal for Beaver Valley.

PLAYOFF NOTES: The Leafs, outscoring their opponents 30-7, are getting it done at both ends of the ice in the KIJHL Playoffs. Nelson has four players, including league leading Shawn Campbell with 12 points, in the top five playoff scorers while goalie Anderson Violette is currently second in goalie stats with a sizzling 1.40 goals against average. Brock Palmer of Kimberley is second behind Campbell in playoff scoring with 10 points with Leafs Aiden Jenner, Reid Wilson and David Sanchez at three, four and five spots, respectively. . . . Wilson currently is riding a six-game point streak in the playoffs. . . . Kimberley took a 2-0 lead in the Eddie Mountain Final with a 3-0 win Tuesday in the Bavarian City. . . . In the Okanagan Conference, both series are tied 1-1 after 100 Mile House up against defending KI Champion Revelstoke, and Kelowna at home against Princeton, won, 3-2 and 2-1, respectively.

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