It’s going to be a fiery last three weeks of the regular season as evidenced by the extraordinary events that occurred tonight in the WLA. On the island, the Nanaimo Timbermen fell 9-5 to the Maple Ridge Burrards, putting the Burrards in first place at the end of the night. On the mainland, the New Westminster Salmonbellies dominated the Coquitlam Adanacs, doubling them up 12-6. Here’s a recap of all the action from Saturday’s matchups.
Maple Ridge 9, Nanaimo 5
Dane Dobbie had a night for himself, getting five goals and an assist for the Burrards. In his last three games, Dobbie has eleven goals and eight assists for a total of nineteen points. The trade deadline acquisition for Maple Ridge has been paying off so far, as he averages 5.42 points per game, which is more than Burnaby forward Robert Church and New West forward Jordan McBride. Also, leading the way for Maple Ridge was Frank Scigliano, who stopped 38 shots and has an incredible 8-2 record this season. Jean-Luc Chetner got two goals for the Burrards in his first multi-goal game since scoring a hat trick against Coquitlam on May 26th.
The Timbermen were down just 6-5 heading into the final period but were outscored 3-0 in the third to go on and lose their second straight game home. Nanaimo actually outshot the Maple Ridge 43-40 in the game but Gord Phillips and Nate Wade went a combined 4-17 in the faceoff dot for the Timbermen. After missing Thursday’s game against the Rocks, Sean Tyrell had a goal and two assists for Nanaimo while getting the second star of the night. T-Men goalie Charles Claxton had 31 saves on 40 shots in his second straight loss.
Maple Ridge’s Next Game: 7/9 vs. New Westminster 7:30 PM
Nanaimo’s Next Game: 7/7 vs. Coquitlam 6:00 PM
New Westminster 12, Coquitlam 6
The Bellies had four different players with at least 5 points on Saturday. Two nights after getting 11 points against Burnaby, Keegan Bal had a goal and six assists for a total of seven points against the Adanacs. Mitch Jones and Jordan McBride each had three goals and three assists while Austin Shanks had a hatty with two assists. Alexis Buque was terrific in net once against for New West, stopping 31 of 37 shots.
Carter Dickson led the Adanacs in points for the second straight game, adding a goal and two assists to his team’s efforts. In his fourth WLA game, Erik Turner scored his second career WLA goal as he got Coquitlam on the board six minutes into the first period. In his first career game, Curtis Sim had an assist for the Adanacs, getting a helper on Cater Dickson’s goal in the third period. Coquitlam went 0 for 5 on the powerplay.
New Westminster’s Next Game: 7/9 @Maple Ridge 7:30 PM
Coquitlam’s Next Game: 7/7 @Nanaimo 6:00 PM