Before Saturday’s game against one of the best teams in the league, Nelson Leafs head coach Briar McNaney kept his instructions simple.
“Our coach told us to dominate, so I think that’s what we tried to do tonight,” said Crae Dawson.
McNaney should probably start saying that every game.
Dawson scored a hat trick as the Leafs humbled the Fernie Ghostriders 9-1 at home Saturday in their biggest win of the season.
The Leafs scored six goals in the third period en route to their third straight win. Following Friday’s 8-4 win over Spokane, well you can do the math but that is a lot of goals to score in just two games.
The Braves are in the division basement, but Fernie is a division leader and will be a contender in the playoffs. Beating them should have required more effort, but Nelson made it look like a Sunday skate.
“I’m just so proud of these guys who have lived up to their potential in that game and have gone through a lot of adversity, because that was one of the more interesting hockey games we’ve had in a while,” said McNaney.
At the centre of the action for most of the game was Dawson, who scored all three of his goals off fortuitous rebounds. On each play his teammates — Camron Wickham, Aidan Turner and Ayden Baldo — had worked hard to set up the chance that Dawson was in the right place each time to convert.
“Little bit of luck from my teammates giving me good passes off the pad and I just happened to be in the right spot,” he said. “I was able to get them in tonight. It was a lot of good passing from my teammates.”
Kane Kennedy and Seamus Boyd each scored twice, and Ty Nykforuk and Bhavin Serown added singles for the Leafs (21-16-3). Karl Soneff made 28 saves and even chipped in with two assists.
Kyler Watson replied for the Ghostriders (26-10-4), with goalie Nick Kunyk allowing all nine goals on 38 shots.
The win moved Nelson three points clear of the Castlegar Rebels for third place in the Neil Murdoch Division with just four games left in the regular season.
“We wanted to be firing on all cylinders and as close to perfect as we can in every aspect of the game leading into playoffs,” said McNaney. “They showed over this weekend that offensively everything that we’ve been laying down to them works and then some. We just need to work on the other side of the puck.”
Fernie opened the scoring thanks to a lucky bounce that ended in a sweet shot. Andrew Kennedy’s long saucer pass down the ice bounced behind a Leafs defender to Watson, who completed the play with a top-corner wrist shot for a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game.
But three minutes later the Leafs stunned Fernie with two goals, one of which received considerable benefit of the doubt from the officials.
A breakaway by Wickham looked as though it would end in a whistle when he lost an edge and knocked Kunyk back into the net, which in turn went off its moorings. But Dawson was there to dump in the rebound as the Ghostriders looked in vain to the refs for a no-goal call.
Dawson demurred when asked if the goal should have counted.
“It did go in but might have a little extra goalie contact. Maybe.”
Only a minute later it was 2-1 for Nelson after Nykyforuk, with his back to the net, turned and fired a shot that beat Kunyk.
Fernie had a chance to tie the game up with two Leafs in the penalty box, but Nelson’s penalty killers successfully weathered the power play.
A penalty to Wickham drew boos from the crowd after he got caught up with Kunyk, who looked as though he held Wickham’s stick. Wickham responded with a push on the goalie, earning himself a trip to the box. Again, the Leafs’ PK unit came through.
Dawson said the PK has been a source of strength for Nelson this season.
“Our penalty killers were unreal tonight as they have been of late too, and I think this gave us another spark of energy and that helped us lead the way.”
The Leafs increased their lead on a perfect deflection by Kennedy in the back half of the second period. A point shot by Tyler Seminoff was batted down by Kennedy, with the puck bouncing off the ice up and over Kunyk.
Dawson again benefitted from a teammate’s hard work on Nelson’s fourth goal early in the third period. Turner stole the puck in the neutral zone and drove hard toward Kunyk, only to be brought down in the crease. Nelson would have had a power play but Dawson was waiting in front for the rebound and goal to give the Leafs a 4-1 lead.
The rout was on thanks to a nasty wrist shot by Kennedy. He was on Kunyk’s short side when he surprised the Ghostriders goalie by slipping the puck over his shoulder with three seconds left in a power play.
Dawson earned the hat trick — which someone in the stands took seriously by tossing their cap onto the ice — halfway through the third. Baldo’s shot was stopped by Kunyk but again dropped perfectly to Dawson, who had nothing but net to fire on for a 6-1 advantage.
The game ended with two goals by Boyd who caught fire late. On a terrific solo effort with 1:38 left, Boyd gathered the puck, carried it through Fernie’s defence and slipped it past Kunyk as he was pushed behind into the net. It was Boyd again just 18 seconds later when he fired a shot top corner.
And then, incredibly, it still wasn’t over. A trailing Serown tapped one more goal in with 20 seconds left.
After the game, a Nelson Leafs staff member dropped by the coaches room with a pitcher of beer.
“I think that one’s worth a drink,” quipped McNaney.
Leaflets: The Leafs next visit the Castlegar Rebels on Feb. 10 before hosting the Spokane Braves on Feb. 11. … The first-period intermission featured a mini-game between the under-seven Nelson Hornets and Nelson Canucks. More minor hockey between periods, please.