It was stat-night once again as the Nelson Junior Leafs laid waste to the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Thursday. Final count this time around: 15-0.
Leading the stat bolstering parade in Grand Forks were Nik Newman, Brett Norman and defenceman J.J. Beitel who all had five points. Rookie Carson Willians notched four goals in the trampling.
In the four games between the two Neil Murdoch Division rivals so far this season, Nelson has outscored Grand Forks by a whopping 52-2.
In Thursday’s drubbing the goals came fast and furious. Just over a minute into the game, Norman scored a pair of goals 17 seconds apart. Less than eight minutes into the game Matti Jmaeff, Eric Spring and Matthew Naka pushed the margin to 5-0.
Scorekeepers were kept busy in the second and third periods with the Leafs registering five goals in each frame. The Leafs fired 57 shots on the Grand Forks goal, while Nelson’s Patrick Defoe stopped 27 to register the shutout.
In 29 games so far this season, Grand Forks has allowed 272 goals against — an average of 9.38 a game — and only scored 58.
The Leafs return home Friday night to take on the Castlegar Rebels at the NDCC. Game time is 7 p.m.