The Nanaimo Timbermen and Burnaby Lakers faced off at Frank Crane Arena in their final meeting this season. It’s been a rough season for Nanaimo, who came into the game in last place with a 1-11 record. Meanwhile, the Lakers were coming off an upset win over league-leading Victoria, and had won the first two matchups with the Timbermen. Nanaimo avoided the sweep, securing an 8-7 victory to improve to 2-11. Burnaby drops to 3-9, missing out on a chance to move within two points of a playoff spot.
Vela paces Lakers with early hat trick
Thomas Vela started off the scoring with back-to-back goals for the Lakers (8:10 power play; 12:31). Tristan Kirkham got Nanaimo on the board at 13:32, but Silas Richmond scored 14 seconds later to make it 3-1 Burnaby. The Timbermen got a late power play goal from Luke Pilcher (19:23), but still trailed 3-2 after one period. Colton Lidstone tied the game 55 seconds into the second period, and a second power play goal from Pilcher (6:08) gave Nanaimo a 4-3 lead. However, Vela netted his hat trick goal (11:15), making it 4-4 after 40 minutes of play.
Timbermen rally in third period for the win
Vela struck again in the third period, his fourth goal (6:35 power play) giving Burnaby a 5-4 lead. The Timbermen responded with a run of three goals in less than 40 seconds. Lukas Olsson (9:04), Noah Manning (9:19), and Jordon Neary (9:40) suddenly put the Timbermen up 7-5. Ben Stewart (10:43) pulled the Lakers within one, but Ryan Sheridan (15:30) pushed the lead back to two for the Timbermen. Richmond scored his second (17:00) to cut the lead to one again, but Burnaby could not get another goal to force overtime.
Vela’s 4-goal performance earned him 1st Star of the Game. Manning (1g, 2a) was named 2nd Star for Nanaimo, and Timbermen goaltender Colby Bowman (46 saves) was the 3rd Star of the Game. Burnaby outshot Nanaimo 53-44 for the game. Tyson Johnson went 11 of 18 at the faceoff dot for the Timbermen. Nanaimo hosts Langley on Sunday night, then travels to Coquitlam next Saturday. Burnaby plays at Maple Ridge Tuesday before hosting New Westminster next Friday.
