The Nanaimo Clippers were relentless for 60 minutes, and were rewarded with a shutout victory.
The Clips beat the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 6-0 Wednesday night at Frank Crane Arena.
“We played really hard together and brought as much effort as we could,” said Brodie Jamieson, the game’s first star. “It worked out for us.”
With the Silverbacks missing a handful of suspended players, the Clippers played an aggressive forecheck to try to wear down the opponent’s thin defensive corps. That energy seemed to benefit all facets of the Clippers’ game.
“We had a good start and when we scored the first one, we just went up,” said Yannick LaFlamme, Clippers forward.
Sam Labrecque opened the scoring five minutes into the first period. A Silverbacks penalty had just expired and there was space for Labrecque to walk in and wire a shot into the back of the net.
Nanaimo threw a lot of pucks at Salmon Arm’s call-up goalie in the second period and got rewarded. Mike Domsodi scored on a shot from the wing that may have been deflected, then Jamieson and LaFlamme scored their first Clippers goals in a 30-second span.
“I wanted this goal for a long time and I just buried my opportunity today. It feels better; it feels good,” LaFlamme said.
In the third period Kyle Kramer got a pass, spun towards the net and fired the puck into the net, then Mike Puddifant rounded out the scoring with a seeing-eye shot from the blueline. The former Silverback was demonstrative after the goal.
“I just looked at their bench and let them know that the Clippers are where it’s at,” Puddifant said.
“Tonight was perfect. They really didn’t even get a sniff. I don’t know if they had 20 shots. We just mopped the floor with them.”
ICE CHIPS … Charles-Andre Pelletier recorded his first shutout, making 17 saves … The visitors spoiled the potential pink-versus-purple matchup by wearing all-black uniforms … Nanaimo’s next game is Friday (Oct. 15) in Victoria, then the Clips host the Langley Chiefs on Sunday (Oct. 17) at 3 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena.
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