On Thursday night the New Westminster Salmonbellies faced off against the Nanaimo Timbermen. Both these teams were sitting on the outside of the playoff picture as Nanaimo sat in 6th place with 13 points while New Westminster sat in 5th  place with 14 points. With a win New Westminster would be back in a playoff spot while Nanaimo with a win would be only 1 point out of the playoffs. These two teams have met twice this season with each team gaining a victory.  So this game was about gaining two huge points and winning the season series.
The game got off to a quick pace as Ilija Gajic scored just 2 minutes into the game to give New Westminster a 1-0 lead. Nanaimo though kept pace as just a minute after New Westminster’s goal Nanaimo’s Blake Kenny scored to tie the game 1-1. The pace began to slow down as the two teams defenses stepped up and shutdown the offensive onslaught. New Westminster got their offense going again on the power play as Ilija Gajic scored on the man advantage in order to give New Westminster a 2-1 lead. Nanaimo continued to fight back and scored two consecutive goals in order to claim the lead and make the score 3-2. New Westminster though got the final word in the period as Alex Gajic scored on the power play to tie the game 3-3 going into the second period. The second period was a torrent of offense as the two teams constantly traded goals back and forth. With just two minutes left in the second period the score was tied 6-6. New Westminster would score though with just under 2 minutes left as Mike Berekoff found the back of the net and gave New Westminster a 7-6 lead going into the third period. In the third period New Westminster broke away as they scored 3 goals in the first 10 minutes of the period in order to extend their lead to 10-6. Nanaimo’s offense was held off for the first 10 minutes of the third period but they finally broke through at the 9 minute mark in the game as Cory Conway scored to make the score 10-7. New Westminster though would prevent a Nanaimo comeback as their defense shutdown Nanaimo’s offense and New Westminster added another two goals to extend their lead to 12-7. New Westminster would walk away with the victory 12-7.
Nanaimo lost this game due to collapsing in the third period as both their offense and defense played poorly in the third which allowed New Westminster to gain the edge and extend their lead gaining them the victory. Nanaimo also lost this game due to their inability to stop New Westminster on the power play as New Westminster went 5 for 5 on the man advantage. By allowing New Westminster the edge on the power play it cost Nanaimo this game. Nanaimo’s best offensive weapon Scott Jones was held to just 2 points in the game which severely hurt Nanaimo’s offense. Nanaimo with the loss remains in 6th place in the league and 3 points out of a playoff spot. Nanaimo next game will be against Coquitlam on Saturday July 21at 7:00pm.
New Westminster once again proved how dangerous they are at home as they now hold a 7-1 record at home at Queens Park. New Westminster took advantage of their opportunities as they succeeded on every power play they had going 5 for 5 as well as keeping constant offensive pressure on Nanaimo allowed them to finally break through Nanaimo’s defense in the third period and walk away with the win. Tyler Richards was also stellar in net as he made 40 saves on 47 shots on net. All three stars of the game were from New Westminster as Ilija Gajic was named first star, Corbyn Tao was named second star, and Alex Gajic was named third star. New Westminster moves into fourth place in the WLA with the win. New Westminster’s schedule gets no easier as they face off next against the 3rd place Coquitlam Adanacs on Friday July 20at 7:45 pm.
