It took overtime to decide the winner in the fight for first place, but in the end the Nelson Leafs found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-4 decision.
The Leafs were in Castlegar on Friday night to take on the first place Rebels.
Nelson opened the scoring when Rayce Miller put the puck past Rebels net minder Patrick Zubick. Michael Crawford added another goal for Nelson while Jeremy McNeil scored for the Rebels to make it 2-1 after one.
In the second period, Castlegar came to life getting goals from Bryan Lubin and Mike Bhatoe to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
It was a wild, high-scoring third period.
Castlegar took a 4-2 lead thanks to a marker by Darren Medeiros but the Leafs refused to quit. Goals by Austin Lindsay and Crawford’s second of the game, sent the contest into overtime.
In the extra frame, Castlegar’s Daniel Petten played the hero, putting the game winner past Leafs netminder Joey Karrer.
Karrer stopped 31 of 36 shots he face while Zubick stopped 35 of 39 shots in the Rebels net.
The overtime loss leaves Nelson two points out of first place, behind the Rebels.
Castlegar and Nelson play again on Saturday night, this time at the Nelson and District Community Complex.
Puck drops at 7 p.m.
