The Nanaimo Clippers captured first place in the division in dramatic fashion.
The Clips scored four third-period goals as they came back to beat the Powell River Kings by a 5-3 score in B.C. Hockey League action on Saturday night at Frank Crane Arena.
The Island Division’s second-place Kings had shut out the Clips 4-0 the night before, then on Saturday they led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 after two.
“It was an emotional roller coaster weekend for us. We went literally through every kind of emotion a team can, to be honest…” said Mike Vandekamp, Clippers coach. “There was a lot of pressure being put on and then it seemed like we kind of pulled ourselves out of that in the second half of tonight’s game.”
The Clippers didn’t feel they had played badly in Friday’s loss or the start of Saturday’s game. So they just kept doing the same things, only better, picking up their skating and crashing the net.
“We just stuck with our game plan and we knew it would work out and it was a really exciting ending right there,” said Nolan Aibel, Clippers forward.
Sheldon Rempal, in his first game back from suspension, got his team within a goal on a drive to the net five minutes into the third period, then Aibel tied things up on the power play midway through the frame. Matt Creamer scored the winning goal, knocking in a wraparound attempt by Yanni Kaldis, and the Clips held on. The two points gave them their second-straight regular-season Island Division title.
“When you work that hard all year to clinch first place, which is a big accomplishment, we didn’t really want to let those guys take it away and let them control our destiny,” Aibel said. “We wanted to control our own.”
Evan Johnson was the winning goalie as shots ended up 48-37 in favour of the home team. Rempal tallied two goals on the night, Matt Hoover scored Nanaimo’s first goal and Devin Brosseau was the game’s first star with four assists.
GAME ON … The Clippers end the regular season with a home-and-home series against the Cowichan Valley Capitals, Friday (Feb. 26) at 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena and then Saturday at Duncan’s Island Savings Centre.
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Nanaimo Clippers win regular-season Island Division title after 5-3 comeback win against Powell River Kings… pic.twitter.com/KaTobuFIUN
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) February 21, 2016
