The Nelson Junior Leafs went on a scoring assault Friday night against the Castlegar Rebels scoring six unanswered goals and eventually coming away with a huge 6-2 win.
The teams battled evenly in the first period at the Castlegar Community Complex, each throwing nine shots at the opposing net. With 38 seconds left in the opening frame, Leafs scoring machine Patrick Martens broke the deadlock on the powerplay to send the locals into the dressing room with a lead.
The second period was all Leafs as they managed to get four goals past Rebels’ starter Connor Beauchamp in the second half of the middle period. Linden Horswill, Nik Newman, Matti Jmaeff and Colton Schell all recorded goals to give the Leafs a whopping 5-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Early in the third period Martens scored his second of the night on the powerplay to push the lead to six. Avoiding total embarrassment, the Rebels came to life in the final 10 minutes of the game scoring two goals on Leafs’ starter Andrew Walton.
The two teams return to action tonight at the Nelson and District Community Complex. The home-and-home weekend is a preview of the first round of the playoffs which will unfold later this month. The Rebels have secured second spot in the Neil Murdoch Division while the Leafs will end up in third. Game time is 7 p.m.