#35 Chazz Nixon with one of his great 39 saves of the game.
By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers defeated the Victoria Grizzlies 4-1 on a fiery Friday night at the Frank. With the win the Clippers leapfrog the Grizzlies for 2nd place in the Coastal Division and a 19-11-2 record. New goaltending acquisition Chazz Nixon turned aside 39 out of 40 shots he faced for his first home win with the Clippers. Nixon also made multiple key saves in the final minutes of the game to secure a victory. Mike Murtagh notched a hat-trick in the win. Connor DeTurris had two helpers on Murtagh’s goals for a solid performance from their line. Although the Clippers were heavily outshot they played a solid defensive game and disrupted shots.
The first 10 minutes of the 1st period were played very defensively. Each team managed to muster only a single shot on goal. The Grizzlies opened the scoring 11 minutes into the game to take a 1-0 lead. The Clippers nearly tied the game on a tipped shot from Matt Lahey, but were denied by the glove of Grizzlies goalie Owen Bresson. Other than the Victoria goal, the 1st period was mostly uneventful. Both teams played not to make mistakes in a battle for 2nd place in the Coastal Division. At the end of the 1st, the shots were 7-6 in favour of Victoria.
The Clippers came out hot to start the 2nd period; peppering the Grizzlies net with 3 shots in the first minute of play. The Grizzlies launched an onslaught of shots toward Clipper netminder Chazz Nixon midway through the 2nd. Nixon was able to steer aside the Grizzlies offensive push. Mike Murtagh exploded for 2 goals in 20 seconds to take a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period. Murtagh’s first goal was a rocket one-timer from the top of the circle that zipped in the top corner. Connor DeTurris set up both Murtagh goals with beautiful passes. Luke Buss intercepted a soft pass from the Grizzlies and walked into the offensive zone untouched before wiring a wrister by the Victoria goalie to put the Clippers up 3-1. The Clippers were awarded a power-play late in the 2nd that would expire just prior to the end of the 2nd period. The power-play would be negated after Isa Parekh took an interference penalty. The Clipper penalty would result in less than a minute of 4 on 4 hockey. The Grizzlies outshot the Clippers 15-11 in the 2nd, but the Clippers led 3-1 through 2 periods of play.
After a brief unscheduled fire drill at the Frank Crane Arena, the teams returned to start the 3rd period. The Clippers were able to kill off the remaining seconds of the Parekh penalty. The Grizzlies started buzzing around the Clippers zone in the 3rd period, but Nixon and the posts turned aside all scoring attempts. Chazz Nixon made a cross-crease, spread-eagle blocker save to keep the Grizzlies at 1 goal. With 3 minutes to play in the game, Nixon went down in a heap after making a save, appearing to cramp up. Down by 2 goals, the Grizzlies used the break to pull their goalie. Mike Murtagh added an empty netter for his 3rd goal of the game and sent the fans home with a free burger from Big Wheel Burgers.
Three stars of the game went to Chazz Nixon, Mike Murtagh, and Connor DeTurris. Grant Babcock took home FortisBC Energy Player of the Game for his work in the defensive zone as well as a couple of thunderous open ice hits.
The Clippers are next at home on Friday, Feb. 2nd against the West Kelowna Warriors at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Frank Crane box office on game day, or at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com.
Catch all of the exciting action at a 2023-2024 Nanaimo Clippers game.
Tickets can be purchased at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com.
