#22 Luke Buss celebrates scoring his second goal of the game..
By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers defeated the Cowichan Capitals 4-2 on Friday night. Prior to the puck drop the Clippers were awarded the Galaxy Memorial Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the season series between the Clippers and Capitals. The Clippers were led to victory on the back of multiple two-goal performances from Cole Lonsdale and Luke Buss. Goaltender Chazz Nixon picked up his 8th win as a Clipper. Nixon stopped 45 out of the 47 shots he faced in a stellar performance that included two periods of shutting out the Capitals.
The Capitals came out of the gate playing with speed, mustering 8 shots in the first 6 minutes of the game. Chazz Nixon managed to turn aside all the Cowichan scoring attempts to keep the score at 0-0. The Clippers were handed the game’s first penalty after Grant Babcock was called for holding. The Clippers' penalty-kill unit kept the Capitals off the scoreboard by blocking a flurry of shots, including Emmett McHardy taking a shot off the ankle. The penalty ended after two minutes with the score remaining 0-0. Noah Alvarez nearly ended the 1st period with a buzzer-beater, if not for the toe of Capitals goalie Aiden Fischer. The Capitals outshot the Clippers by a wide margin, 17-5, through 20-minutes of play.
The Clippers opened the scoring early in the 2nd. Cole Lonsdale stole the puck off of a Cowichan player’s stick and fired a knuckle-puck that floated over the shoulder of Fischer to put the home team up 1-0. Isa Parekh was entering the offensive zone when he was hit knee-on-knee by Capitals forward Keegan Dunn, resulting in a four-minute power play for the Clippers. Fortunately, Parekh would be able to continue playing in the game. On the power play, Mike Murtagh fed Luke Buss in front of the Capitals net. Buss wired home his 19th goal of the season to give the Clippers a 2-0 lead. Cole Lonsdale scored his 2nd goal of the game in the waning minutes of the 2nd period to give the Clippers a commanding 3-0 lead.
A shot taken at the Clippers' goal, after the play was blown dead for an offside, resulted in a small kerfuffle. As a result of the skirmish Luke Buss and Capital forward Gavin Giesbrecht were sent to the penalty box. Neither side was able to take advantage of the 4-on-4 play and the score remained 3-0. Cowichan scored their 1st goal of the game in the 3rd period to bring them within two goals of tying the game up. The Clippers had an opportunity to retake a three-goal lead after the Capitals were called for holding. Luke Buss took a pass from Connor DeTurris in between the faceoff circles and fired home a rocket of a shot, his 2nd goal of the game, to give the Clippers an insurance goal. Buss’ night would end early after he got in a dust-up in front of the Cowichan net, resulting in the ejection of both Buss and Capitals captain Brady Yakesh. A late penalty to Noah Alvarez gave the Capitals their 3rd power-play chance of the night. Cowichan scored a late goal to cut the Clippers lead to 4-2. Isa Parekh took a late hooking penalty that would see the Capitals play the remainder of the 3rd period with a man advantage. The Clippers killed off this penalty with ease and earned their 24th win of the year.
Chazz Nixon’s 45-save effort made him the 1st star of the game. Cole Lonsdale and Luke Buss were named 2nd and 3rd star, respectively, for their two-goal nights. Emmett McHardy took home FortisBC Energy Player of the Game for his efforts blocking shots, including taking one off the ankle and continuing to play. The Clippers face the Capitals again on Saturday at the Frank Crane Arena. Tickets can be purchased at the Frank Crane box office on game day, or at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com.
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