#35 Aidan Campbell makes a gloved save. One of 28 stops he made in the 4-2 win.
#16 Brody Waters picks up a puck won by #7 Kai Daniells in a face-off.
By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers defeated their Highway 1 rivals, the Cowichan Valley Capitals 4-2 on Friday. Coming into the game, both teams had a record of 3-1. At the time of writing, the Clippers are tied with the Surrey Eagles for first in the BCHL’s coastal division. Aidan Campbell stopped 24 of 26 shots to earn the win. The Clippers' goals came from Ethan Mistry, Tyler Wishart, Charles Tardif and Willyam Gendron.
Both teams came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. The Capitals scored first to take a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in. The Clippers answered back quickly. Joel Plante got a breakaway but was unable to solve Capital goalie McCoy Bidewell. Plante collected his rebound and it made its way to Ethan Mistry at the point. Mistry fired a laser from the blue line that found the back of the net for his second goal of the season. The Capitals took a penalty late in the first period to put the Clippers on a powerplay. On the powerplay, Tyler Wishart scored his first goal of the season to put the Clippers up 2-1 heading into the second.
The Clippers got another powerplay opportunity early in the second period but were unable to capitalize. Local product, Skylar Cameron took a high-sticking penalty halfway through the second. The penalty kill unit of the Clippers kept the Capitals from scoring. Capitals defender William Elias slammed Tyler Wishart from behind, resulting in a two-minute penalty and game misconduct. The Clippers could not score on the powerplay opportunity. They headed into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead.
Throughout the third period, the Clippers locked down defensively, despite allowing 13 shots in the period. Multiple big hits from Grant Babcock and Luca Grabas kept the energy up at the Frank. Capitals scored with an extra attacker to make it a 3-2 game late in the third. With a chance to score on the open net, Willyam Gendron added the insurance goal to seal a 4-2 victory for the hometown Nanaimo Clippers.
FortisBC Energy Player of the Game was awarded to Luca Grabas for being a banshee on the forecheck. The Clippers swept the three stars with Ethan Mistry, Charles Tardiff, and Brody Waters. On Sunday afternoon, the Clippers are back at the Frank Crane Arena to face the Langley Rivermen. Tickets can be purchased at nanaimoclippers.com or the Frank Crane box office.
