Despite scoring first, Leafs surrender leads in pair of KIJHL losses

Photo: Contributed

Although the Nelson Leafs have clinched a KIJHL playoff berth the club is limping into the post season after having dropped a pair of games on the weekend.

The Leafs hit the road on Friday night to play Murdoch Division rivals Beaver Valley Nitehawks in Fruitvale but the second-place ‘Hawks were unfriendly hosts, running the Leafs out of town with a 5-2 win in front of 267 fans.

The Leafs opened the scoring on the power play with Kane Kennedy’s 18th goal of the season — tied with Quinn Ramsey for most on the team — and Caden Still closed the scoring for the Leafs and in the game, adding an assist on Kenendy’s goal.

After allowing the opening goal to Kennedy, the Nitehawks scored five straight, including the winner by Connor Drake (sixth). Drake led with three points and Landan Uzeloc made 27 saves. Jacob Armstong made 31 saves for the Leafs.

The Leafs surrendered two goals on the penalty kill — out of five chances — but were only one-for-six in their man advantage time. Nelson was outshot 36-29 in the game

The Leafs couldn’t crest the wave of the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Saturday night at the Nelson and District Community Complex, scoring first but surrendering the next three goals to lose the tilt 3-1 before 810 fans.

Chase Bambrick led the Thunder Cats with two points, including setting up the winner for Jace Litoski (three), to defeat the Leafs. Brendan Smith stopped 28 for an important win that puts the Thunder Cats ahead of the Golden Rockets for the final playoff spot in the Eddie Mountain division. Brendon Hall scored for the Leafs and Ryder Gregga made 31 saves in his first game since Oct. 18.

The Leafs are 5-5 in their last 10 games and are 18-23-1 on the season, sitting them in third place in the division, two points ahead of the Castlegar Rebels. The Leafs are 14th in the 21-team KIJHL.