The Nanaimo Clippers earned their first win of the season and know that they can play the type of hockey that will lead to plenty more wins.
The Clippers defeated the Powell River Kings by a 7-3 score on Saturday, Sept. 28, in B.C. Hockey League action at Frank Crane Arena. It was a bounce-back game for the Clips, who had dropped their home opener the previous night 4-1 to the Chilliwack Chiefs.
"It was time to refocus and I think the veteran guys really led the way early, set the standard for how we were going to play and I thought we were in control for most of the game," said Colin Birkas, Clippers coach.
Nanaimo was up 2-1 after one period and extended their margin to 4-1 early in the second. The power play was effective on the night, with the Clips capitalizing on three of five power plays.
"We needed to come out and redeem ourselves a little bit," said Cole Lonsdale, Clippers forward. "We came out with a chip on our shoulder and came out flying and we got the win which is what we needed."
Lonsdale said the power play's success came from communication and quick puck movement which allowed players to get open. He said generally, if the Clippers aren't "cheating the game," then they'll get opportunities on which to capitalize.
"We know what we've got to do out there, we've got to play fast, play hard. [The home opener] we sort of got away from that and focused too much on what Chilliwack was trying to do and got away from our identity, but tonight we came out, played Clippers hockey and it worked."
Birkas said the Clippers have consistently been working hard on the ice, but still need to learn to respond the right way when they make mistakes or when they're stressed.
"[This is] a great opportunity to teach after a win," he said. "We can show clips of what went good, let's keep doing that, and clips of what put us in trouble, let's stop doing that."
In the loss, Patrick Fortune scored Nanaimo's only goal and Chazz Nixon made 28 saves. The next night, Lonsdale led the way with two goals and an assist, Dylan Kinch scored twice, Joel Plante had a goal and three assists and Connor DeTurris and Andrew Brown were the other scorers. Kyan Labbé stopped 37 of 40 shots for the win.
The Clippers are now 1-1-0-1 for three points in their first three games.
"We've got a great group of guys, all positive and all wanting to work hard, all wanting to get better," Lonsdale said. "Each and every day we're going to come to the rink and we're going to grow as a team."
GAME ON … The Clippers play the Langley Rivermen and then the Surrey Eagles on back-to-back nights on the road Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 1-2, then return home to face the Victoria Grizzlies on Friday, Oct. 4, in a 7 p.m. faceoff at Frank Crane Arena.
