Unhappy with reffing calls south of the border, the Nelson Leafs return home with a 3-3 tie against the Spokane Braves.
The Leafs were off to an early lead in the second game of a home-and-home series played in Spokane last night. Carson Wilans scored on the power play with help from Dustin Reimer and Dallon Stoddart at 2:30. Defenseman Kyler Wilkinson scored his first goal of the season at 13:41 making it 2-0 for the Leafs. Blake Arcuri and Matt MacDonald got the assists.
High-sticking and game misconduct calls against Colton Schell late in the first left the Leafs down on the ice. With a 5-3 advantage, Dylan Tappe capitalized at 2:53 left in the period getting the Braves in the game with a goal off Kurtis Redding and Brycen Fisher.
The Leafs added to their lead in the second period scoring a power play goal at 14:11. Greg Nickel had help from Seth Schmidt and Wilans. It was 3-1 after two.
The Braves scored twice in the third period to tie the game. Tyler Peltram scored off a pass from Fisher at 10:14. And Peltram and Fisher helped Sean Collins score at 13:17.
With under a minute left in the 3-3 game, Wilans was called for slashing. Despite a call the Leafs felt questionable, the match went into overtime.
Two overtime periods played and no goals were scored despite many power play opportunities, mostly for the Braves.
The Leafs outshot the Spokane team almost 2-1 in the game. Even so, the Nelson crew was shut out of Stars of the Game. Fisher and Collins took first and second honours while goalie Matt Zensola got third star.
The Nelson Leafs play Beaver Valley Nitehawks at the NDCC on Dec. 31. Beaver Valley is coming off their home-and-home series versus Castlegar with their second game also ending in a tie at 2-2.
The matinee game featuring two Neil Murdoch Division teams starts at 2:30.