The Nelson Leafs gave the Okanagan division leader Summerland Steam a paddling they soon won’t forget, winning 4-2 Sunday.
Stream Riley Pettitt scored the singular goal in the first period only to fire up the Leafs in the second as Nolan Percival brought the score to 1-1. A second Leaf’s goal by Nicholas Ketola, took them ahead 2-1.
In the third, Stream came on to the ice raging, with Matthew Monk soon scoring on the Leafs goalie Patrick Ostermann. (Leafs’ goalie Joseph Barton is out with an injury after Saturday’s game against Beaver Valley.)
The 2-2 score propelled fierce pressure from both teams as they attempted to break the tie. It was a physical game with dozens of solid hits from both sides.
The tension turned to a roaring celebration when Leafs' captain Rayce Miller broke the tie with a goal in the Stream net with seven minutes left.
Stream pulled their goalie in a last ditch effort to survive. But the Leafs managed to pull the puck away from their end, and as a result, Eamonn Miller sunk the puck into Stream’s empty net for a final score of 4-2. Even so, with only 40 seconds left, the Okanagan team almost scored as they desperately tried to build on their eight game winning streak.
Head coach Dave McLellan said the Leafs’ work ethic made the difference in Sunday’s game adding that good defence by Kyle Chernenkoff and Aigne McGeady-Bruce were instrumental in the win.
After Sunday’s game, McLellan said it was a good weekend with two wins out of three games.
“And tough games, which were good for us,” added assistant coach Greg Andrusak.
Jo Davies’ ejection from Saturday’s game has turned into a three game suspension for abuse of an official, otherwise known as harassment. Neither McLellan or Davie knew what the forward did to receive the suspension.
The Nelson Leafs play the Castlegar Rebels in Castlegar on Wednesday before returning to home ice to play Grand Forks on Friday. Both games start at 7 p.m.