Left picture: #11 Willyam Gendron leads the line to celebrate his goal at the bench.
Right picture: #30 Shane Shelest with one of the 38 saves he made.
By Malcome Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers bounced back with a 3-1 win against the Victoria Grizzlies on Saturday night. Quebec-born Shane Shelest stopped 38 of 39 shots faced in the win. Willyam Gendron, Kai Daniells, and Jake Hewitt scored the three Clipper goals. Despite getting outshot 39 to 20, the Clippers played well defensively. After this game, the Clippers' record currently stands a 3-1-0-0.
Willyam Gendron, the other new addition from Quebec on the Clippers, scored on the first shot of the game. Standing alone in front Gendron took a pass from veteran Québécois player, Jérémie Payant and snapped a shot into the net. The Grizzlies were able to tie the game at 1-1 shortly after the Clippers scored. The Clippers had a power play opportunity in the first period, but could not capitalize. Victoria outshot Nanaimo 15-7 in the first. Both teams managed a single goal in the frame.
The second period saw no scoring by either side. Midway through the period the Clippers and Grizzlies traded scoring chances. Shane Shelest and Victoria goalie, Oliver Auyeung-Ashton turned the chances aside. Neither side was able to generate any substantial offensive zone time. The Grizzlies outshot the Clippers again in the second by a total of 16-9. Shelest and the Clipper defence held strong, limiting rebounds and clearing the slot.
The deadlock was broken thirteen minutes into the third period. A slew of penalties led to a minute of 4-on-3 play with the Clippers holding the man advantage. Kai Daniells got the puck out of a scrum in the corner and wired a short side shot by Auyeung-Ashton. The Clippers held the 2-1 lead until the Grizzlies pulled their goalie in the final minutes. After multiple attempts to score on the empty net, Jake Hewitt potted his first goal of the season to seal the victory.
Shane Shelest earned the first star of the game for his 38-save performance. Kai Daniells was the second star for his game-winning goal. Grizzlies forward Noah Liebl took home the third star of the game. FortisBC Energy Player of the Game was given to Willyam Gendron for blocking multiple Grizzlies shot attempts.
The Clippers play again on October 7th at the Frank Crane Arena, facing the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Clippers and Capitals have identical records and will be playing for first place in the Island division. Tickets can be purchased at Nanaimoclippers.com or the Frank Crane Box Office on game day.
