Clippers defeat the Powell River Kings 7-3

By Malcom Cooke

The Nanaimo Clippers emerged victorious on Saturday night, defeating the Powell River Kings 7-3 for their first win of the young season. Rookie goaltender Kyan Labbe stopped 37 of 40 shots he faced en route to his first BCHL win. Cole Lonsdale scored two goals and an assist in the win. Joel Plante scored once and added three assists in a stellar offensive performance.

The Clippers opened the scoring in the latter half of the first period. Local product Luke Lavery saucered a pass to Dylan Kinch who redirected the puck on the net. The puck snuck through the legs of Kings goalie Elliot Pratt and was given a final nudge beyond the goal line by a Powell River defenceman. The goal was Kinch’s second of the young season. Cole Lonsdale added to the Clippers lead late in the opening frame, notching his first goal of the year. The Kings cut the Clippers lead to 2-1 shortly after Nanaimo’s second goal. The horn sounded to end the first period with the Clippers holding a one-goal advantage, while Powell River had a one-shot edge, 13 shots to Nanaimo’s 12.

Conner DeTurris was called for tripping after the faceoff to begin the second period, putting the Clippers on the penalty kill for the first time in the game. The penalty kill unit was able to keep Powell River from scoring or even registering a shot through the duration of the penalty. DeTurris jumped out of the box and joined the rush, taking a pass from Nathan Larioza to score his first goal of the year. After the goal the Kings made a goaltending change, swapping Elliot Pratt for Cooper Flemming. The change was simply an equipment issue, so Pratt returned to the crease a few shifts later.

The Clippers drew a penalty midway through the second period, putting them on the power play. With the man advantage, the Clippers would add to their lead. Cole Lonsdale netted his second goal of the game to put the home team up 4-1. Kyan Labbe survived a brief onslaught in front of his net to hold the Clippers lead.

A net-front dust-up left each team down a skater, setting up two minutes of four-on-four hockey. Then Nathan Larioza was called for slashing a Powell River player, putting the Clippers down a skater for the second time in the game. The Kings would capitalize on their power play, scoring to cut Nanaimo’s lead to 4-2. The Clippers added to their lead on a power play one-timer from Joel Plante. The Kings would respond quickly to make the score 5-3 in favour of Nanaimo. Penalties in quick succession to each team meant the end of the second and beginning of the third period would be played at four-on-four. The Kings outshot the Clippers 13-10 in the second.

The third period would start with some light fisticuffs between Samuel Boisvert and Kings defenceman William Terwoord, resulting in the Clippers receiving their third power play of the game. Shortly after the Kings would take another penalty, giving the Clippers an extended five-on-three power play. On the power play, Andrew Brown notched his first goal of the season and third point of the game. Nanaimo sat comfortably in the lead with a 6-3 advantage through 50 minutes of play. The Clippers would have to kill another penalty late in the third period after Julian Brown was called for high-sticking. The penalty was successfully killed off. Dylan Kinch added the final dagger, scoring on the empty Powell River net to put the Clippers up 7-3 before the final whistle.

Three stars of the game were awarded to Cole Lonsdale, Joel Plante, and Kyan Labbe, respectively. FortisBC Energy Player of the Game was awarded to Andrew Brown for his three-point performance.

The Clippers go on the road for two games to face the Langley Rivermen and the Surrey Eagles before returning home to the Frank Crane Arena on Friday, Oct.4 in a matchup against the Victoria Grizzlies. Tickets can be purchased at the Frank Crane box office on game day, or at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com.