The Nanaimo Timbermen and Langley Thunder met at the Langley Events Centre Wednesday night for their third and final meeting of the 2026 season. Nanaimo was looking to get back to .500 and hold on to the fourth and final playoff spot. Meanwhile, Langley is in last place, all but eliminated from playoff contention, and have already traded high-profile players such as forward Jon Phillips and goaltender Frank Scigliano to other teams in the playoff hunt. The Thunder got off to a fast start, but a big second period lifted Nanaimo to an eventual 10-7 victory, evening their record at 6-6 and sweeping the season series against Langley. The Thunder fall to 2-10 with the loss.
Langley starts off fast, but Nanaimo rallies in second period
Langley controlled most of the first period, outshooting the Timbermen 18-12. Two goals from Connor Watson (7:08; 17:25) and goals from Max Semple (8:10) and Alex Lemieux (15:12) gave the Thunder an early 4-0 lead. Matt Abbott would break the Langley run at 17:59 to get Nanaimo on the board, and Joel Mullen (2:46 second period) cut the lead in half. Gordie Phillips (7:02) pushed the Thunder’s lead back to three, but the Timbermen went on a three-goal run to tie the game. Markers from Josh Gabriele (7:41), Colton Lidstone (10:58), and Logan Schmidt (11:20) made it 5-5. Nathaniel Kozevnikov scored at 12:15 to give Langley the lead once more, but back-to-back goals from Andrew Bowman (14:47; 17:08) put Nanaimo up 7-6 going into the third period.
Timbermen hold on to fourth and final playoff spot
Abbott scored his second goal (0:07 shorthanded) to continue Nanaimo’s run. Bowman followed with his hat trick goal (6:49), and Jordon Vincent (9:32) extended the lead to 10-6. Phillips scored his second for Langley at 14:42 to end the run, but the Thunder could not get any closer as their losing streak reached four straight games. Andrew Bowman was named 1st Star of the Game for his three-goal performance, while Nanaimo goaltender Colby Bowman took home 2nd Star after making 47 saves. Watson (2g, 1a) earned 3rd Star honors for the Thunder, who play at Victoria Friday, then have games against Burnaby and Maple Ridge in Week 9. Nanaimo hosts two big games this weekend: second-place Maple Ridge comes into town on Saturday, followed by Island rivals Victoria on Sunday.
