#15 Ethan Mistry, #2 Michael Craig and #35 Aidan Campbell intently guard against the Alberni player..
#2 Michael Craig celebrates scoring Nanaimo's 2nd goal and his 8th of the season.
By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clipper lost their first home game of 2023 to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 4-2 on Friday. Kai Daniells and Michael Craig scored for the Clippers, but it was not enough to recover from a 3-0 deficit. The Clippers managed to score once on five power-play opportunities, including a five-minute power-play. Alberni Valley outshot Nanaimo 32-23.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring three and half minutes in on a breakaway to take a 1-0 lead early. A Clippers' penalty halfway through the first period was killed off easily by the penalty kill unit. A failed breakout led to an Alberni Valley point shot getting tipped in front of goaltender Aidan Campbell and finding the goal. Kai Daniells got a slashing call towards the end of the period, which was handled before the Clippers went into the first intermission down 2-0 and being thoroughly outshot 11-2.
In the second, Charles Tardif took an early penalty where the Bulldogs capitalized with the man advantage. Thirty seconds into the frame the Clippers faced a 3-0 hole. Bulldog Logan Holm was awarded a roughing penalty giving Nanaimo their first power play. Shortly after the man advantage ended, Kai Daniells tapped home a redirected Waters slap pass to get on the board.
With the score now 3-1 Luca Grabas and Bulldog Emanuelson Charbenau got in a scrap to bring some energy to The Frank. After the smoke cleared a barrage of penalties post-fight resulted in a 4-on-3 advantage for the Clippers. With momentum, Captain Michael Craig took advantage of the extra space and scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Nanaimo was outshot again in the second 17-9.
The third period started with a Clipper power-play after Jake Hewitt was taken down on a two-on-one scoring chance. A rare short-handed breakaway by Alberni Valley forward Wil Elger put the road team up 4-2. A blindside open ice hit by Holm earned him a game misconduct and gave Nanaimo a much-needed five-minute power-play. The Clippers peppered the net but could not score on Bulldog goalie Hobie Hedquist. Only mustering four shots and no goals with the extended chance. The Clippers get another power-play chance before the end of the game but would once again come up empty. The game ended in a scuffle as Clippers lost 4-2.
FortisBC Energy Player of the Game was given to Luca Grabas for his electric tilt. Michael Craig earned the third star of the game. Will Elger and Nicholas Beneateau of Alberni Valley took second and first star.
Nanaimo travels to Victoria on Saturday to bounce back from a rare home loss. The next game at the Frank Crane Arena is Friday, January 13. Tickets can be purchased at Nanaimoclippers.com or the Frank Crane box office on game day.
