Clippers Take Game 1

2                                       Final Score                                        5
Colley, Johnson	Goal Scorers	Hoover (3), Rempal, Dodero
16	Total Shots	45
4	1st Period Shots	12
7	2nd Period Shots	18
5	3rd Period Shots	15
0 for 2	Power Play	1 for 4
Kyle Johnson	3rd Star
	2nd Star	Sheldon Rempal
	1st Star	Matthew Hoover
8-22-0-2	Current Record	19-10-0-1

A night after a strong performance against their Mainland rivals the Coquitlam Express, the Spruce Kings couldn’t match the performance Friday against the Nanaimo Clippers.

It was the first meeting between the two teams, but will be seeing each other soon as PG travels to Nanaimo in just two weeks.

The Spruce Kings got off to a strong start, as Adam Burnett flipped up a Hail Mary pass to Parker Colley who went down on the breakaway beating Evan Johnson blocker side for a goal less than three minutes in.

That seemed to awaken the beast though, as Matthew Hoover scored just eleven seconds later, on a big rebound kicked out from Liam McCloskey. Then four minutes later it was Sheldon Rempal breaking down the ice, and sliding a puck along the ice that justwent by McCloskey’s pad, and in for two on four shots. Chad van Diemen didn’t like what he saw, and made a goalie swap to bring Sam Tanguay in. Prince George was able to escape the rest of the period without a goal against, but took a penalty that would go into the second period.

There the third ranked power play went to work scoring just 19 seconds into the middle frame. This time it was Hoover playing trigger man again as he took a pass in the slot from Rempal who was behind the net. Despite being outshot 18-7 in the period, the Spruce Kings would also score a goal of their own in the second as Kyle Johnson stole the puck behind the Clippers net, and wrapped the puck around to the far side of the net for his 5^th goal of the season.

The third would bear no fruit for the home team though, as Nanaimo scored twice more to cap the game at 5-2. First it was Dodero, then Hoover finishing off his hat trick.

Turning Point:

Prince George may have been able to build some momentum off the first goal of the game they scored, but instead watched as Hoover scored 11 seconds after to tie the game again.