Rockies double Leafs 4-2 in Kootenay Conference match up
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Leafs two-game road swing through the East Kootenay concluded on a sour note Saturday night in Invermere.
Colby Sherlock scored the game winner four minutes into the third period to snap a 2-2 tie sparking the Columbia Valley Rockies to a 4-2 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League victory over the Leafs.
The short-staffed Leafs, playing the weekend with only 15 players, opened the trip through the Eddie Mountain Division of the Kootenay Conference with a 5-0 victory Friday over Golden Rockets.
The loss, the eighth in the past 11 games, drops Nelson to 13-12-0-0-1 on the season.
Nelson, struggling through the month of November with a 2-7 record, sits third in Murdoch Division standings, one point ahead of Grand Forks Border Bruins.
Saturday, the Leafs went toe-to-toe against the Rockies.
Michael Cardinal scored a short-handed goal to give the Rockies the lead in the second period.
But Tyler Garcia answered for the Leafs less than a minute later as the power play ran out.
Nick Hoobanoff restored the Rockies lead midway through the frame.
Once again the Leafs answered, this time Samuel Weber with this second goal in as many games late in the period.
However, the Leafs ran out of gas in the third as Columbia Valley stormed Patrick Ostermann in the Nelson nets with 18 shots.
Sherlock potted the game winner before Doan Smith added some insurance later in the period to secure the victory.
Cardinal was the Game Star for the Rockies while Ostermann earned the praise of the selection committee as he faced 41 shots in the Leaf nets.
Nelson managed 30 shots, but only five in the third period, against Rockies netminder Giovanni Sambrielaz.
The Leafs face rival Castlegar Rebels Wednesday in the Sunflower City. Game time is 7 p.m.
Nelson remains on the road Friday for a game in the Bavarian City against the defending KIJHL champion Kimberley Dynamiters before returning home Saturday to face the Columbia Valley Rockies at 7 p.m. in the NDCC Arena.
