The Nelson Leafs regular season opened with a loss that could have been humiliating without their new starting goaltender.
Jason Sandhu made 40 saves as the Leafs lost 3-1 to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in Fruitvale on Friday night.
Kyle Hope, Blake Sidoni and Nolan Percival each scored for the Nitehawks (1-0-0), while Tallon Kramer stopped 23 shots.
Kolten Nelson opened the scoring just a minute and a half into the game on a short-handed goal, but that's where the Leafs' (0-1-0) offence ended.
The Nitehawks came out firing, out-shooting the Leafs 16-4 in the first period and didn't let up for the rest of the game.
Nelson next visits the Spokane Braves on Saturday.