Kane Kennedy had to split atoms to get a goal Saturday night.
The Nelson Leafs forward was about parallel to the Sicamous Eagles’ net with possession of the puck in the first period. The opposing goaltender Dylan Marshall had the side of the net covered — or so he thought.
“I just saw a corner poking up right above his shoulder between his helmet and I just shot it there hoping that I was getting it to go short side,” said Kennedy.
You might need a microscope to see the space Kennedy saw. His goal had to be seen to believed.
But the Nelson Leafs were unbelievable all night, winning 4-1 against the league-leading Eagles in a timely statement game with the playoffs approaching.
The Eagles entered the game on a three-game winning streak, with two of those wins against other title contenders Fernie and Princeton.
But the Leafs rose to the occasion with one of their best games of the season, relying on shutdown defence and a tenacious offence that frustrated the Eagles.
“[Sicamous are] a pretty good hockey team over there,” said Leafs head coach Briar McNaney. “But you know, I think just goes to show you how we feel in this dressing room and the coach’s office, and certainly our fans do. There’s not a team in this league that we can’t beat.”
Ethan Hamilton, Quinn Ramsay and Camron Wickham each scored for the Leafs (19-16-3), with Karl Soneff making 24 saves.
Daniel Kroon replied for the Eagles (29-7-1), while Dylan Marshall allowed three goals on 28 shots.
Kennedy may have given Nelson the first lead of the game, but all things being equal the Eagles were due their own unlikely goal.
They got it late in the first. Nelson was on a power play when Sicamous forward Alex Smith gathered the puck and went on a breakaway. His shot was saved by Soneff’s blocker, but the puck bounced back off the post then rebounded to a trailing Kroon for the open-net goal.
Nelson took a 2-1 lead eight minutes into the second period. Hamilton was waiting at the far post with several players in front of the net when a rebound slipped to his position for the goal.
The Leafs increased their advantage to two goals during a late power play. Parker White rushed the zone and flipped a pass over a defender to Ramsay who was in front of Marshall for a 3-1 lead.
Sicamous was on a power play early in the third when Soneff made two incredible saves to keep the puck out. First he lost the puck and had to stick out a toe for the save, then on the same play he sprawled out to barely keep the puck from crossing the line in a move that earned him applause from the crowd.
McNaney said Soneff was the team’s player of the game, and had plenty of praise for the defensive corps as well.
“We stuck a little more to our D-zone coverage, which got us out of some troubles there. It was nice seeing that the few times we did get pinned, the guys were resorting to their training and getting back to those habits and starting to get pucks out from there and doing the little things it takes to win.”
Both teams got testy with each other and it tempers boiled over midway through the third with a pair of nasty scrums in front of Marshall. At one point there were four Eagles in the penalty box and two Leafs. Not long after Eagles forward Devon Barkley dropped gloves against Nelson defenceman Jackson MacIntosh, and both were shown the door.
A goalie assist helped Nelson put away the win with less than two minutes left. Soneff was behind the net with the puck when he unleashed a pass to an open Wickham who had an easy swipe into an empty net.
“We’re definitely one of the top teams in the league and that just goes to prove it that we can beat anyone when we play our game,” said Kennedy.
It was hard to argue otherwise after that performance.
Leaflets: Former Leaf Marko Pavlovic was on the ice for Sicamous while the Leafs wore their Indigenous-style jerseys, which Pavlovic helped design. … Nelson’s Xaiden Bignell had a rarely called penalty against him at the end for the first period. Bignell was assessed an ineligible player call for having a loose neck guard. It’s unlikely anyone in the stands understood the penalty when it was announced. … Nelson next visits the Spokane Braves on Feb. 2 before hosting the Fernie Ghostriders on Feb. 3.