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Braves spoil Thanksgiving

The Nelson Junior Leafs headed south Sunday afternoon hoping for a pre-Thanksgiving point feast against the Spokane Braves, but were sent home hungry.
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Leafs defenceman Johathon Petrash rushes the puck.

The Nelson Junior Leafs headed south Sunday afternoon hoping for a pre-Thanksgiving point feast against the Spokane Braves, but were sent home hungry.

Though the Leafs outshot their Neil Murdoch Divison rivals 13-8 in the first period, it was the Braves who were up 2-0 after the first 20 minutes with goals from Zak Kroll and Nick Farmer.

The Leafs came out strong in the second period at the Eagles Ice-A-Rena with Colton Malmsten getting the locals on the board less than two minutes into the middle frame. With just under five minutes to go in the period, Malmsten notched his second of the afternoon on the powerplay to tie the score at twos.

Uriah Machuga got the lead back for the Braves when he beat Nelson starter Patrick Defoe with 43 seconds left in the period.

Despite outshooting the Braves 29-17 over the first 40 minutes the Braves held the advantage and came out strong in the third looking to bury their visitors. Seven minutes into the third Farmer notched his second of the game to give the Braves the 4-2 lead.

The Leafs didn’t give up and with just over five minutes left in the period Patrick Martens cut the deficit to one. With just over two minutes left to play the Leafs were given a grand opportunity when Nick Redding was whistled for hooking. With the Defoe pulled, the Leafs couldn’t capitalize. Farmer added the empty net goal to complete his hat trick.

The Sunday afternoon game put the wraps on the Leafs wicked early season stretch that saw them play seven games in 10 days. The Leafs went an impressive 5-2-0 during the stretch and remain atop the Neil Murdoch Division.

Leafs newcomer Matti Jmaeff picked up two assists in the game and continues to lead the team in scoring with 20 points. The Creston native sits tied for fourth in the KIJHL.

The Leafs next action is next weekend when they embark on a two-game southern Okanagan road trip taking on the Summerland Steam on Friday and the Penticton Lakers on Saturday. The Leafs next home game is October 19 when they host the Beaver Valley Nitehawks.