Bruins outlast Leafs 7-4, move into three-way tie for first in Murdoch Division
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Brady Berger scored twice and assisted on the game winner to lift the Grand Forks Border Bruins to a 7-4 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League victory over the Nelson Leafs Sunday afternoon in the Boundary City.
Berger set up Silas Johnson with eight minutes remaining in the game to give the Bruins a 5-4 lead.
Grand Forks scored twice as Nelson pulled netminder Ben Kelsch in an attempt to tie the game.
Nelson held period leads of 2-1 and 3-2 before the Bruins scored twice in the third to take a 4-3 lead.
Dylan Haney tied the game before Conner Brennan put Grand Forks in the lead.
Nelson’s Sawyer Hunt tied the game on the power play before Johnson put the Bruins into the lead for good.
Shayne Pluto, Yoan Rodrigue and Josh Hammett also scored for Grand Forks, which out shot the Leafs 35-35 in the contest.
David Lenzin, Ryan Piva and Andy Fitzpatrick replied for the Leafs, finishing a three game weekend tilt at 1-1-0-1.
The victory moves Grand Forks into a three-way tie with Beaver Valley and Nelson.
The Leafs return to action when Beaver Valley pays its first visit of the season to the NDCC Arena, Friday at 7 p.m.
Steger lifts Leafs past Hawks in Murdoch Division showdown
The Nelson Leafs bounced back from a crushing double overtime loss Friday against Castlegar to hand the Beaver Valley Nitehawks a 4-3 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League setback Saturday night in Fruitvale.
Austin Steger scored the winning goal with less than four minutes remaining in the game to give the Leafs the narrow victory.
Unlike the previous game against the Hawks where the coaching staff said they were at fault for not provide the necessary preparation for the team, Nelson came out flying, taking the play to Beaver Valley on the ice and the score sheet as the Leafs grabbed a 3-1 lead heading into the first period intermission.
Colum Mcgauley, Dale Howell and Andy Fitzpatrick on the power play gave the visitors the early cushion.
Beaver Valley’s Bradley Ross cut the lead to 3-2 with a goal 32 seconds remaining in the second period before Dylan Heppler tied the game midway through the third frame.
However, Steger combined with Howell and Mcgauley to net the winning tally against the flow of the play in a period dominated on the shotclock by Beaver Valley.
Ben Kelsch turned aside 30 of 34 shots to register the win in goal.
Tallon Kramer took the loss for a Beaver Valley team that dressed only 14 players.
Devin Ghirardosi score the other goal for Beaver Valley, which lost both games this weekend. Friday, the Hawks suffered a 5-2 setback to Grand Forks.
Steger and Howell each finished the game with three points while Mcgualey and Sawyer Hunt garnered two points in the contest.
Nelson, which opened the weekend losing 5-4 to Castlegar at home in overtime, concluded the three-game set Sunday afternoon in Grand Forks against the Border Bruins.
The Bruins, with five points, trail the Leafs and Hawks by two points in the Murdoch Division standings entering the contest.
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