The Castlegar Rebels lost to the Nelson Leafs in the second period of overtime on Tuesday night, tying the KIJHL series 2-2.
The Rebels and the Leafs battled through three periods of regulation time without a goal. The Rebels only counted 11 shots on goal during regulation, despite three power play opportunities, but Rebels goalie Chandler Billinghurst managed to hold off 32 shots on goal from the Leafs, keeping his team in the game.
By the end of the game he had faced 40 shots on net — but he couldn’t stop the last one, fired by the Leafs’ Sawyer Hunt.
Asked how he was feeling after the game, Billinghurst said, “Not good at all. That’s all I have to say about that.”
Coach Bill Rotheisler felt the game could have gone better and gave credit to the Leafs for playing a good game.
“Kudos to Nelson for vastly, vastly, vastly outplaying us tonight,” he said.
The Leafs win will force game six of the series on Friday at 7 p.m. in Nelson, but first the teams will battle it out through game 5 in Castlegar on Thursday at 7 p.m.
