Nanaimo, BC – The Clippers hosted the Surrey Eagles for a Sunday matinee game that saw Nanaimo come out with a 5-3 victory. Clippers forwards, Ben Kotylak and Tristan Fraser each scored two goals, including an empty net buzzer beater from Kotylak, to seal the win. Goaltender Cooper Black stopped 38 of 41 shots he faced.
The first period started with a penalty against the Clippers, less than a minute into the game. The rest of the team seemingly fed off the energy of the early penalty-kill, thirty seconds after it had expired, Ben Kotylak scored his first of two goals in the game to give the home team an early lead. Four minutes of gameplay later Quebec born, Jérémie Payant hammered a one-timer on a pass from Keighan Gerrie to give the Clippers a two goal lead less than ten minutes into the game. The first period was filled with back and forth plays off the rush, which resulted in 32 total shots between the two teams in one period, 17 from Surrey and 15 from Nanaimo. Just before the clock expired, the Clippers got a late power-play that would carry into the start of the second period.
The second period power-play to start proved uneventful, but shortly after, each team took a minor penalty that left an extended stretch of 4 on 4 play. The speedy Clippers took advantage of the extra skating room. BCHL All-star Sean Donaldson and University of Connecticut commit Tristan Fraser executed a textbook tic-tac-toe move that Fraser finished off for his 16th of the year to put the Clippers up by 3. Less than a minute later, the Eagles retaliated with a goal of their own to bring the Clipper lead back to 2. The hat-trick hero from Friday’s game, Kai Daniells, took a high sticking penalty midway through the second. Once again, Fraser used the open ice to launch a 2 on 1 counterattack with Max Itagaki that ended the same way as the previous one, with Fraser sending the puck to the back of the net. Clippers regained a 3 goal lead. The pace of the second period was noticeably calmer than the first, but the Clippers were still able to score 2 goals on 9 shots in the period.
The Eagles mounted a valiant comeback attempt in the third period, scoring once early, and again a few minutes later to make the score 4-3 for Nanaimo. The Clippers managed to hold off the comeback, in part thanks to Cooper Black making a sprawling cross crease save to keep the Clippers in front. With less than five seconds to go, Ben Kotylak stole the puck from a Surrey defender and went on a breakaway. With only two tenths of a second left in the game, the puck crossed the goal line for Kotylak’s second of the game.
For their two goal afternoons, Kotylak and Fraser were awarded the first and second stars of the game. FortisBC Energy Player of the Game went to netminder Cooper Black, for his 38 save effort. The Clippers next home game is Friday, March 11 against the Langley Rivermen. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com or the Frank Crane Arena box office on game day.
Written by Malcolm Cooke.
Recap presented by
