By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers defeated the Langley Rivermen 4-0 on Friday night. The win gives Nanaimo a 1-0 lead in their first-round best-of-seven series. Clippers goaltender Aidan Campbell earned his first career BCHL shutout in his first career BCHL playoff game. The Clippers' power-play unit scored 3 of the 4 goals. Charles Tardif notched 2 goals in the game, including the game-winner. Jeremie Payant and Brody Waters also scored for the Clippers. Overall the Clippers dominated to open the 2023 BCHL playoffs, time will tell if they can repeat last season’s playoff success.
Willyam Gendron got stapled from behind into the boards giving the Clippers an early power-play chance. The Clippers opened the scoring midway through the first period as Charles Tardif tapped home a rebounded shot from Lucas Klemm. Nanaimo received another power play after Langley forward Nik Hoogendoorn hauled down a Clipper skater. The Clippers would score again to make it a 2-0 game. Jeremie Payant finished off a play that looked similar to the game's first goal. Towards the end of the first period, Jake Hewitt absolutely levelled Langley player Owen Kim on open ice. The Rivermen took exception to the hit and on his next shift, Jake Hewitt and Langley’s Dominick Rivelli got into a dust-up that saw both players ejected from the game. The Clippers outshot Langley by a margin of 22-4 in the first period, showcasing dominance early in the first-round series.
The Clippers got their third power play of the evening near the start of the second period. Langley had their first scoring chance in the second period, getting a slight breakaway that was easily swallowed up by Aidan Campbell. The Clippers earned a 4th power play late in the second and scored their second power-play goal of the game. On a play that mirrored the first Clipper goal, Charles Tardif redirected a Brett Merner shot to give the Clippers a 3-0 lead. Shots were 8-7 in favour of the Clippers in the second period.
The third period started with coincidental minor penalties issued to each team, resulting in 2 mins of 4 on 4 play. Neither side was able to take advantage of the open ice and play would return to 5 on 5. Langley took another emotional penalty midway through the third period. Brody Waters would score his first goal of the playoffs just seconds into the power-play. With a comfortable 4-0 lead, the Clippers shifted their focus to defence. Nanaimo would receive yet another power-play in the game, but could not add to their lead. The Clippers took a late penalty, giving Langley a chance with the extra skater. Langley decided to pull their goalie with several minutes of play remaining and a power play, but ultimately it made no difference on the outcome of the game. The Clippers skated to a 4-0 win in the first round of the BCHL playoffs, taking a 1-0 series lead.
Aidan Campbell earned the first star of the game with his first BCHL shutout performance. Charles Tardif and Brett Merner rounded out the other two stars. Jeremie Payant earned FortisBC Energy Player of the Game. Game 2 takes place on Saturday night, tickets can be purchased at Nanaimoclippers.com or the Frank Crane box office on game day.
