The Nelson Leafs rolled into Summerland Friday night and handed the hometown Steam a good old-fashioned thrashing.
In the first of a two-game southern Okanagan road swing, the Leafs crushed the Steam 9-2 with Nelson veteran Colton Schell collecting six points and sniper Patrick Martens adding four goals on the night.
The Steam drew first blood, scoring just over two minutes in when Jeff Penman beat Leafs rookie netminder Patrick Defoe. But then the Leafs shook off the bus legs scoring three times before the buzzer sounded on the first period. Brett Norman started it off five minutes in with an unassisted marker. Martens and Schell added to the total, the latter coming with only 19 second left in the period.
The Leafs came out strong in the second period, firing 19 shots on Steam starter Sam Bass, but only Martens managed to get one by the Summerland goaltender.
The third period was wide open with both sides getting plenty of shots, but it was the Leafs who managed to rack up the score.
Martens completed his hat trick less than a minute into the final period with a powerplay goal. Nik Newman and Schell followed it up to give the visitors a 7-1 lead. Sean Leslie did manage a Summerland powerplay goal six minutes into the third, but Martens and Max Mois made sure the game was not even close with goals to close out the game.
With his five-point night, Martens vaulted to second in KIJHL scoring. The second year Leaf now sits one point behind league leader Ryan Edwards of Beaver Valley.
The Leafs now travel down Highway 97 for a meeting with the Penticton Lakers tonight.