The Coquitlam Adanacs won a goaltending duel, defeating the Nanaimo Timbermen 7-4 on Sunday night to take control of first place in the WLA standings.
The Adanacs now hold a 14-2-1 record, sitting four points ahead of the second-place Victoria Shamrocks (12-3-1). However, the Shamrocks have a game in hand.
Victoria faces the Burnaby Lakers on Tuesday night, and a win would set up a showdown between Victoria and Coquitlam in the final game of the regular season, with the winner claiming the top seed.
On Sunday, though, the story was the stellar play of Christian Del Bianco for Coquitlam and Devlin Shanahan for Nanaimo.
Shanahan stopped all 20 shots he faced in the first period, while Del Bianco turned away nine of 10. Neither team broke through until the third period, when Coquitlam outscored Nanaimo 5-2 in the final frame.
Defensive Struggle In The First
Goaltending and defence dominated the first period as it took 14:52 before either team could score.
The Timbermen struck first when Noah Manning scored off assists from Lukas Olsson and Thomas Vaesen, giving Nanaimo a 1-0 lead after the opening frame.
Adanacs Tie It Up
Nanaimo extended their lead early in the second period. Ryan Sheridan converted a pass from Manning at 4:09 to make it 2-0.
Coquitlam responded with two goals before the period ended to tie the game. Jack Royer connected with Riley Isaacs at 9:49, and Adam Noakes scored with just 15 seconds left to make it 2-2 heading into the third.
Coquitlam’s Offence Finds Its Footing
The Adanacs pulled away in the final period with a three-goal run.
Kean Moon scored unassisted at 2:01 and added another solo effort at 7:23 to give Coquitlam a 4-2 lead.
Erik Turner extended the lead at 14:40 off a pass from Noakes, but Vaesen got one back for the Timbermen with 2:20 remaining.
The game finished with a wild flurry—three goals in 39 seconds. Isaacs scored with 48 seconds left, Vaesen replied 30 seconds later, and Bobby Kidd III sealed the 7-4 win with 9 seconds left as the Adanacs take control of first place.
Top Scorers
Coquitlam Adanacs
- Kean Moon: 2g, 2a
- Riley Isaacs: 2g
- Adam Noakes: 1g, 1a
Nanaimo Timbermen
- Thomas Vaesen: 2g, 1a
- Ryan Sheridan: 1g, 1a
- Noah Manning: 1g, 1a
- Lukas Olsson: 2a
- Colton Lidstone: 2a
Three Stars
- Christian Del Bianco, Coquitam Adanacs
- Devlin Shanahan, Nanaimo Timbermen
- Kean Moon, Coquitlam Adanacs
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