#35 Tyler Hodges smothers the puck late in the 3rd period.
By Malcom Cooke
The Nanaimo Clippers opened 2024 on a winning note, defeating the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 2-1 on Friday night. With the win, the Clippers now have a record of 18-10-2 and jump ahead of the Victoria Grizzlies for 2nd place in the Coastal division. Luke Buss and Mike Murtagh scored the goals in the winning effort. Tyler Hodges stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, including numerous heart-stopping saves that kept the Clippers in front from start to finish.
The Clippers scored their first goal of 2024 less than 5 minutes into the 1st period on a sharp-angle shot by Luke Buss, scoring his 13th goal of the year. Midway through the period, Joel Plante was driven into the boards aggressively, putting the Clippers on the power play. With the man advantage, the Clippers added to their lead. Captain Brett Merner fed Mike Murtagh with a beautiful cross-ice pass and Murtagh slapped home the one-timer. Shots were at a premium in the 1st. The Clippers managed to outshoot the Silverbacks 7-4, scoring on 2 of them, to take a 2-0 lead into the 1st intermission.
Both teams played a very defensive 2nd period. By the midway mark of the 2nd there had only been 18 total shots on goal. The Clippers were happy to keep the puck in the corners and maintain a 2-0 lead. Clipper netminder Tyler Hodges made a spectacular sprawling save late in the 2nd to keep the Silverbacks off the scoreboard. Noah Alvarez took a hooking penalty in the latter half of the period. Clipper forward Emmett McHardy would be the one to utilize the empty space, going on a shorthanded breakaway, but his shot rang off the iron. The offence started to pick up after the Silverback's power play. Tyler Hodges made another 5-alarm glove save late in the Salmon Arm power play. A pair of penalties late in the 2nd that were handed out to both teams resulted in some 4-on-4 action for the final 2 minutes. The Silverbacks managed to score before the intermission after a set-up pass bounced off a Clipper defender’s stick and into the net to cut the Clippers lead to 2-1. Salmon Arm outshot the Clippers 13-6 in the 2nd.
The Clippers had their 2nd power-play chance early in the 3rd after Samuel Boisvert was hauled down trying to get a shot off. However, they were unable to capitalize. The Silverbacks made a strong push to tie the game but Tyler Hodges denied all scoring opportunities. Tyler Hodges snagged the puck out of midair in the final minute of play to seal the Clippers victory by a 2-1 margin. The Silverbacks outshot the Clippers 27-23 in the game but were unable to solve Hodges for the majority of it.
Luke Buss, Tyler Hodges, and Mike Murtagh won the 3 stars of the night, respectively. Emmett McHardy went home with the FortisBC Energy Player of the Game for his defensive efforts at full strength and shorthanded.
The Clippers play again on Saturday night when the Coquitlam Express are at Frank Crane Arena. Tickets can be purchased at the Frank Crane box office on game day, or at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com.
Catch all of the exciting action at a 2023-2024 Nanaimo Clippers game.
Tickets can be purchased at tickets.nanaimoclippers.com.
