Chiefs send Leafs to fifth straight loss, double the Green and White 6-3 in Central Okanagan City
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Before the weekend, like any optimistic coach, Leaf skipper Frank Maida said the Heritage City squad was gunning for six points as the club set out on a three-game road trip through the Okanagan Conference of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
Now the Leafs will be lucky to get two.
Shawn Holliday scored four times to spark the Kelowna Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Leafs Saturday in the Central Okanagan City.
The loss is the fifth consecutive defeat as a once promising season for the Leafs looks to be in jeopardy. Kelowna defeated Nelson September 23rd, 4-3 in overtime.
During the opening tilt of the weekend Friday in Princeton, a 4-2 loss, a poor start proved costly to the Leafs.
Saturday it was a second period that turned the tables on Nelson as the Chiefs broke open a 1-1 game by scoring three times — two of the markers coming on the power play.
Nelson opened the game out shooting the Chiefs 13-9 before Kelowna regained control of the game, finishing the contest with a 32-30 advantage.
Kirk Reeve and former Leaf Landon Andrusiak also scored for Kelowna, winners of four straight after going through a steak the team lost six of seven games.
Matti Jmaeff, with his first goal in seven games, Colton Schell and Max Mois replied for Nelson.
The Leafs have little time to regroup to try to stop the bleeding as Nelson travels to Osoyoos today to meet the defending KIJHL champion, Coyotes.
Nelson completes the six-game road trip Thursday in Fernie against the Ghostriders.
Next home game for the Leafs is Saturday, November 12 when winless Grand Forks Border Bruins visit the NDCC Arena for a 7 p.m. contest.
LEAF NOTES: The losing streak has dropped the Leafs out of the Murdoch Division penthouse as Nelson, 12-8-0-1, trails the Beaver Valley Nitehawks by three points. The Leafs are now in danger of falling deeper in the division as third-place Castlegar Rebels are now only one point behind the Leafs with three games in hand. . . .Nelson’s leading goal scorer Patrick Martens registered a pair of assists in the game. Martens had his 14-game point streak snapped Friday in Princeton. However, Martens has only scored once in four games. . . .Nelson is minus forward Nik Newman for the weekend. Newman had points in seven previous games. . . .If Leaf defenceman Blake Arcuri didn’t have any bad luck, the second-year player would have no luck at all. After missing the first month of the season with off-season shoulder surgery, the Nelson native suffered a fluke thumb injury during an October 19th game victory against Beaver Valley. Arcuri finished the game despite the injury. But further diagnosis revealed the Leaf defenceman would be out of the lineup for at least six weeks.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
