A high-scoring home opener put the Nanaimo Clippers back on track.
The city's B.C. Hockey League club blew away the visiting Powell River Kings by an 8-4 score on Friday at Frank Crane Arena.
"The boys definitely came out a little more fired up this time around," said Sheldon Rempal, who scored three goals. "It was a good win to give the fans a first look at the team."
The score was 2-2 after a back-and-forth first period, then the Kings scored a power-play goal to go up 3-2 early in the second.
"That's where we seemed to turn it up and played pretty good after we went down 3-2, and showed some resiliency there by clawing ourselves back into it and took over the game," said Mike Vandekamp, Clippers coach.
The top line was dominant. In addition to Rempal's hat trick, Brendan Taylor scored the first goal and added two assists and Devin Brosseau chipped in four assists. Rempal said his line might have tried to be too fancy at last week's showcase tournament.
"We … calmed down and we started grinding it out in their zone and getting some time on attack and that definitely worked for us," Rempal said.
Cole Maier scored the goal of the game, jumping over a prone Kings opponent to create a rush, then going to the net to finish off the play and put his team ahead. Other Nanaimo scorers were Nicolas Carrier, Jacob Hanlon and Brett Roulston. Corey Renwick had three assists. Guillaume Decelles earned his first BCHL win as his team was outshot 45-40.
Vandekamp said it's always fun to score a lot of goals for the home crowd and said there was a great buzz in the building.
"It's a real momentum builder for us…" he said. "We have to have a good game tomorrow, too. It's very important to us to have a good weekend, not just a good home opener."
GAME ON … The Clippers take on the Victoria Grizzlies on Saturday (Sept. 27) at 7 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets will be available at the door.
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Nanaimo Clippers win their home opener against the Powell River Kings 8-4. Article to come… #Nanaimo pic.twitter.com/tQ6JwqbhNo
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) September 27, 2014