By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers suffered their first overtime loss of the season on Friday, falling 3-2 to the Prince George Spruce Kings. After falling behind 2-0 heading into the third period the Clippers made a valiant effort to tie the game at 2-2 and force overtime. Jake Hewitt and Jérémie Payant scored the Clipper goals. Aidan Campbell stopped 19 of 22 shots faced in the losing effort. The loss is the Clippers first overtime loss of the 2022-23 BCHL season. Nanaimo now holds a 22-4-1-0 record on the year and are still atop the Coastal division.
The first period started with Aidan Campbell making an early five-alarm save to keep the game scoreless. Despite the efforts, Prince George opened the scoring eight minutes into the game. Jérémie Payant beat everyone but the crossbar on a single-handed effort late in the first period. Nanaimo kept giving Prince George golden opportunities off defensive zone giveaways but Campbell bailed them out on multiple occasions. The Clippers were awarded a power play with two mins left in the first but couldn't muster anything with the advantage. Overall it was an uninspiring first period for the home team who were outshot 7-3 by the Spruce Kings.
The Clippers started the second period with a flurry of shots on goal but could not solve Spruce Kings goalie Jordan Fairlie. A cross-checking penalty to Charles Tardif gave Prince George a power-play. An unlucky bounce off Michael Craig`s skate lead to 2-0 lead for the Spruce Kings.
The Clippers got a second power-play chance midway in 2nd that turned into a limited 5-on-3 advantage. A scrum in front of the net on the power play ended with a shot over the net and the Clippers still down by 2. Nanaimo managed 11 shots but could not break the shutout in the second.
With a defender draped all over him, Jake Hewitt powered his way to the net to break the shutout and get the Clippers within one goal. Prince George player Jack Stockfish was ejected for gross misconduct in the third period. Jérémie Payant scored a spin-o-Rama goal to tie the game at 2-2 less than 5 minutes into the third. Coincidental minor penalties led to a full two-minute four-on-four late in the third period. Both teams seemingly played for overtime after the Payant goal. 60 minutes of play solved nothing so the game went into overtime.
In overtime, an unlucky bounce off the glass in the Clippers' defensive zone led to the Spruce Kings scoring the game-winner just over a minute into sudden death.
The three stars of the game were awarded to Scott Cousins, Jake Hewitt, and Luca Primerano. Charles Tardiff earned FortisBC Energy Player of the Game, which cost him a tooth during the course of play.
The Clippers look to bounce back on Saturday night against the Cowichan Valley Capitals for teddy bear toss night. Tickets can be purchased at Nanaimoclippers.com or the Frank Crane box office on game day.
