It was a typical Nanaimo versus Powell River game for at least two periods, but the Kings took over in the third to win 9-1 on Friday.
The Clippers were down 2-0 after the first period on goals by Mitch Williams and then Carter Turnbull on a power play.
Shawn Guison got Nanaimo on the board with a power play marker in the second period, and then the teams traded a number of great chances. Both the Kings Matteo Paler-Chow and the Clippers Noah Featherstonhaugh Gowe made several excellent stops in the middle frame.
The game seemed to turn when Powell River captain Gavin Rauser broke in for a shorthanded goal in the final minute.
That set the stage for the Kings in the third period as they would count six goals in a nine minute span to completely change the dynamic of what was a very competitive contest for 40 minutes.
Three of those goals were scored by Kevin Obssuth and the others went to Trent Bell, Ethan Kimball, and Josh Coblenz.
The shots were 40-37 for Powell River with the Kings going 2/7 on the power play and the Clippers finishing 1/5.
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Saturday’s Three Stars
1) Kevin Obssuth 3g 2a
2) Carter Turnbull 1g 3a
3) Jonny Evans 3a
On Saturday Nanaimo hosts the Victoria Grizzlies in a rematch of their playoff series from this past March.
Victoria won that first round matchup up in five games.
In the preseason the Clippers beat the Grizzlies 2-1 in overtime and then lost 9-6 in their other head to head meeting.
Puck drop is at 6 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena.
