Wild ride for Murdoch teams as division rivals skate to a pair of draws
By The Nelson Daily Sports
In the wild, wild Murdoch Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, anything is possible — like two ties on the same night.
Nelson Leafs played most of the overtime shorthanded, but still managed to hold onto a 3-3 tie against the Braves Saturday night in the Lilac City in a game that had more twists and turns than a drive to Ainsworth Hot Springs.
Meanwhile, three hours to the north the Castlegar Rebels and Beaver Valley Nitehawks were battling to a 2-2 draw in the Sunflower City.
The result means no change in the Murdoch standings allowing the Leafs to maintain a four-point advantage over the Rebels and remain six in front of the surging Nitehawks following weekend action.
In the Lilac City the Leafs looked to improve on a lackluster win Friday against the Braves and got the start they needed scoring twice in the opening 13 minutes.
Carsen Willans opened the scoring on the power play before Kyle Wilkinson scored his first of the season.
Wilkinson’s goal forced Spokane coach Mike Bay to switch goalies, substituting Matt Zenzola for starter Julian DiFilippo.
However, before the period ended Dylan Tappe scored his second in as many nights beating Cody Boeckman in the Leaf nets.
Greg Nickel increased Nelson’s lead with a power play goal in the second.
But Tyler Peltram and Sean Collins scored three minutes apart late in the third to force overtime.
In the extra frames Nelson struggled to get going after starting the period down two players due to rash of penalties.
Once Nelson resumed full strength, the offence took over out shooting the Braves 16-7 for a game advantage of 67-38.
MURDOCH NOTES: Nelson lost captain Colton Schell after the Leaf forward was hit with a five-minute high sticking major followed by a game misconduct. Schell leads the Leafs in penalty minutes with 110. The next Leaf is injured center Matthew Naka with 75. . . . Nelson lost the services of Blake Arcuri in the third when the Leaf defenseman left the game with a concussion. The Leafs also lost the services of defenseman Cam Weir, who was forced to leave the game after being cut. . . .Nelson returns to action New Year’s Eve when the Beaver Valley Nitehawks visit the NDCC Arena for a 2:30 p.m. start. . . .In Castlegar, Diego Bartlett scored a power play goal with 3:17 left in the third period to spark the Rebels to the 2-2 tie. Aaron Petten scored the other goal for Castlegar in the second while Kurt Black and Riley Brandt replied for Beaver Valley. The Hawks out shot the Rebels 44-37. Zach Perehudoff for the Hawks and Jordan Gluck for the Rebels were in goal.
