The Nelson Leafs’ season of misery has followed them into the playoffs.
The Beaver Valley Nitehawks put on an effortless performance from puck drop to beat the Leafs 5-1 on Monday in Game 3. They can sweep the division series Tuesday in Nelson.
Nelson's players looked defeated as they left the ice with a half-hearted stick tap, one that was met with faint response from the crowd. But Leafs forward Kieran Christanson said he hasn't given up hope for a comeback.
“There's no quit in here still. We still think we can do this. We believe in ourselves. We just got to pull it together and take it in tomorrow's game.”
Ollie Clement, William Ray, Brady Magarrell, Roan Crowe and Ty Noseworthy scored for the Nitehawks, while goaltender Connor Stojan made 30 saves.
Cale Nachai scored the lone goal for the Leafs, with Ryder Gregga allowing all five goals on 32 shots.
If Nelson wins Tuesday, the series returns to Fruitvale for Game 5 on Friday. A Game 6 would be played in Nelson on Saturday, while Beaver Valley would host a Game 7 on March 10.
“It’s win or go home," said Nelson head coach Gianni Mangone. "We have to come back tomorrow with a lot more energy and a lot more desire to win. I think there's moments in that game we showed it, but moments that we didn't and it cost us. They took advantage of those moments, and we didn't capitalize on ours.”
Nelson was the clear underdog going into the series. The Leafs finished the regular season with a losing record and were 23 points behind second-place Beaver Valley. But after dropping the first two games of the series in Fruitvale, there was little fight left in the Leafs on Monday.
Yet Nelson was a toenail away from scoring what would have been game-opening goal. The Leafs were on a power play when they played Stojan out of position. Leighton Partington seemed to have an open net to fire on but the Nitehawks goalie stuck out his pad and somehow managed to get a safe off the tip of his skate to preserve the scoreless game.
Beaver Valley then took the lead on two quick goals that were both benefited by a screened Gregga.
On the first, Nitehawks defenceman Jack Bodel’s point shot was tipped by Clement past Gregga (the first assist was incorrectly credited to Ryan Neufeld). Then less than a minute later, Ray fired another shot from the blueline that beat Gregga with players in front of the Leafs goalie.
Nelson broke through midway into the second period when Nachai jumped on a big rebound to beat Stojan.
But that goal was undone just 31 seconds later when the Leafs failed to clear the puck in front of their net and Magarrell scored to put the Nitehawks up 3-1.
Predictably, a brawl erupted in front of Stojan shortly after that ended with Nachai taking down the Beaver Valley goaltender. On the ensuing power play, Crowe banged in a shot at the post to give the Nitehawks a three-goal lead.
“I think emotions kind of got the best of them," said Mangone. "You're never going to win a hockey game playing like that. So it's something we have to fix quick.”
Magarrell nearly scored another moments later but ringed a shot off the crossbar behind Gregga. It didn’t matter — the game was essentially over with a period still to play.
It was a merry-go-round of Leafs to the penalty box in the third period, which led to yet another Nitehawks goal. Noseworthy’s power-play goal just slipped by Gregga for the 5-1 lead.
“I think we just got out of our game," said Christianson. "I think we were a little undisciplined. Took some unnecessary penalties, and honestly just lost our way.”
Is there a way back for the Leafs? The odds say no. Mangone says yes, if his players stick to their game plan.
“Just play the system that we have prepared. We've done a lot of work, studying them, studying ourselves, and we fade away from it sometimes. But when we do our systems correct it works. We just have to do it for 60 minutes.”
Leaflets: Longtime volunteer Gord Davis was honoured before the game for his 30 years of service to the Leafs. An annual award given to volunteers was renamed after Davis.
