Hogg shuts door on Posse in Thanksgiving special
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Netminder Darren Hogg stopped all 18 shots to power the Nelson Leafs to a 2-0 victory over the Posse from Princeton in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League play Sunday afternoon at the NDCC Arena.
The victory, the second during the three-game weekend for the Green and White, allowed Nelson to climb to within a game the .500 mark. Nelson, 5-6, sits two points behind third-place Spokane Braves and six in back of Murdoch-leading Castlegar Rebels.
(Saturday) was just a ridiculous game . . . it’s the most incredible game I’ve ever played in,” the towering 6’2”, 205-pound Hogg said when asked his rebound effort from Saturday’s shootout against Golden. “Today was a really good feeling to be out there. The boys did their job tonight which allowed me to do my job.”
Connor Enright scored the only goal Hogg would need midway through the second period on the power play. Enright pounced on a loose puck in front of the Princeton net before putting a forehand/backhand move on goalie Weston Joseph in the Posse nets.
Patrick Martens drilled a shot from the blueline into the vacant net for the other Nelson goal. Nelson out shot the Posse 24-18, including 11-5 in the third period.
The win was the second in as many games for the struggling franchise.
Saturday, a five-point performance by veteran Gavin Currie sparked Nelson to a 9-7 victory over the Golden Rockets in good old fashion shootout.
Currie, finishing the contest with three goals, netted a pair of markers in the third period as Nelson pulled away. The Leafs outscored Golden 3-1 in the final frame after squandering leads of 3-1 and 6-4.
Braeden Hikichi, scoring twice, and Adrian Moyle, with a single, each added three points for the winners. Enright, Martens and Tanner Burns also scored for Nelson.
Tanner Cochrane and Sandro Moser each scored twice for Golden. Lane Erickson, Darren Andrea and Justin Fulton added singles.
Marcus Beesley and Hogg shared the goaltending duties for Nelson. James Leonard, surrendering eight goals before being pulled in favour of Kylar Stern, took the loss for the Rockets.
The wins enables Nelson to salvage something positive after the opened play losing 3-0 to Beaver Valley Friday night in Fruitvale. Beaver Valley rode 33-save performance of netminder Mike Vlanich to post the shutout win.
The victory was the second of the season for the Hawks over the Leafs. Beaver Valley defeated Nelson 6-3 in the first meeting last month in the Heritage City.
Vlanich, 17, was especially sharp in the opening frame when the Leafs, playing for the first time in more than a week, out shot the Hawks 14-7.
Colton Donselaar and Dallas Calvin each scored on the power play and Nelson Minor Hockey grad Ryan Sookro added an insurance goal in the third period to pace the Hawks. Sookro, 19, is tied with Donselaar for the lead in scoring on the Beaver Valley club, each with nine points.
Beesley stopped 19 of 22 shots for Nelson in goal.
Next home game for the Green and White is Saturday when Spokane visits the NDCC Arena for a 7 p.m. contest.
ICE CHIPS: Nelson played without the services of forwards Cody Abbey (upper body), Connor McLaughlin (upper body) and defenceman Raymond Reimer (lower body). Abbey and Reimer are longterm while McLaughlin hopes to be back in the lineup soon. . . .Leaf coach and GM Chris Shaw acquired the services of offensive/defenceman Kyle Alexander in a cash deal from the Flin Flon Bombers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Alexander, at 5’11”, 200-pounds, is a native of Redondo Beach, California. He arrived Sunday and watched the Princeton game from the stands.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
