#35 Chazz Nixon prepares to make a stop..
By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers fell to the Surrey Eagles, 6-4, in a Sunday afternoon matinee, and a rematch of Friday night’s thriller that ultimately saw the Eagles emerge victorious. The Clippers held a 4-1 lead before squandering it in the final minutes of the 3rd period. Despite playing their 3rd game in as many days, the Clippers started hot with goals from Connor DeTurris and Joel Plante in the first 3 minutes of the game. Cole Lonsdale and Luke Buss scored in the 2nd period to give the Clippers a commanding 4-1 lead. Momentum seemingly left the Clippers after goaltender Chazz Nixon went down in the 2nd. Surrey scored 5 unanswered goals in the final frame to leave Nanaimo 2-0 at the Frank over the weekend.
The Clippers came out firing on all cylinders. Mike Murtagh took a pass from Matt Lahey, streaked down the sidewall and put an Eagles defender in a blender before getting the puck on the net. Connor DeTurris was planted in front of the net and tapped home his 14th goal of the season to give Nanaimo an early 1-0 lead against one of the better defensive teams in the BCHL. Joel Plante got loose on a breakaway, outskating the Eagles' pursuers, to score his 16th goal of the season. The Clippers jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than 4 minutes into the Sunday afternoon tilt. After the 2nd Clipper goal play settled down until Cole Lonsdale was called for goalie interference, giving the Eagles a power play. The Eagles scored on their power play to cut the Clippers' lead down to 2-1. The score would remain 2-1 heading into the 1st intermission, with the Clippers outshooting the Eagles 12-10.
Eagles netminder Jaiden Sharma made a sprawling save to deny Gabriel Westling a golden scoring opportunity to open the 2nd period. Seconds later, it would be Chazz Nixon’s turn to make a spectacular save as he snagged the puck out of midair with his glove hand. Nanaimo’s offence continued to put pressure on Surrey. The Clippers entered the offensive zone on a 3-on-2 with Isa Parekh leading the charge. Parekh slid the puck over to Cole Lonsdale who tapped home his 19th goal of the year. The Clippers had their first power-play opportunity midway through the 2nd period. Luke Buss parked himself in front of the Eagles net before tipping a Brett Merner shot into the back of Surrey’s net to take a 4-1 lead. Nixon exited the game in the 2nd period after a collision with an Eagles forward. Tyler Hodges would play the remaining 6 minutes of the 2nd. The Eagles pounced on the cold goalie and scored their 2nd goal of the game on a strange bounce in front of the net to cut the Clipper lead to 4-2. Heading into the 2nd intermission the Clippers maintained a lead on the scoreboard and in the shot totals, outshooting Surrey 25-21 through 40 minutes of play.
Tyler Hodges came out to start the 3rd period after Nixon left the game late in the 2nd period with an undisclosed injury. The Eagles struck first in the 3rd period to cut the Clippers lead to 4-3 with 15 minutes left to play. Surrey would tie the game at 4-4 moments after scoring their 3rd goal of the game. The Eagles would add 2 more unanswered goals to go up 6-4 in the waning moments of the game. The Clippers outshot the Eagles 37-31 but it was not enough to secure their 27th win of the season.
Mike Murtagh was named the 3rd star of the game for his two-point effort. Eagles forwards Zachary Wagnon and Ryan Evenhuis took home the 2nd and 1st stars of the afternoon. Rémi Gélinas was given the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game.
The Clippers hit the road for the next 4 games before returning to the Frank Crane Arena on Friday, March 29 when they host the Langley Rivermen. 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.
