Dante De Caria
Nanaimo, BC – Jordan Naylor made 26-saves, and the Nanaimo Clippers (6-3-1) shutout the Powell River Kings (7-5) 3-0 on Saturday night at the Frank Crane Arena.
Naylor recorded his second career shutout, all coming in the last seven days, and both against the Kings after he made 32-saves for his first career shutout last Sunday. The Clippers take a 2-0 season series lead with their next matchup scheduled for November 3rd.
The Kings are shutout for the third time this season, with all of those shutout losses during their nine game road swing. Powell River falls to 3-5 during their road trip, being outscored 27-to-19.
Ethan Scardina scored twice, giving him six goals over his last three games. Scardina scored both of his goals in tight, as he opened the scoring late in the first with a breakaway goal, and then he put the game away in the third when he beat Paler-Chow off the bar and in.
“Three breakdowns led to their goals,” said Kings assistant coach Brock Sawyer. “It’s been a grind, and we need to draw from the positives and get back to work.”
“Our effort was there, but we did not get enough quality chances around the net to bang it in,” added Sawyer.
Powell River took 18-minutes in penalties, allowing Nanaimo to go 2-for-6 on their power-play. The Nanaimo Clippers extended their winning-streak to four games, while the Kings drop their second straight contest.
Matteo Paler-Chow was stellar in net making at least five or six big saves while stopping 33 of 36-shots in the loss.
“Well a shutout would have been nice,” joked Sawyer. “He made about four saves on breakaways, but we shouldn’t be giving up those opportunities. He was good, he didn’t give up many rebounds, but after Thursday’s episode (5 GA on 19 shots) it was nice to see him settle in.”
The Powell River Kings are in action today (Sunday October, 5th) at 1:00 p.m., as they play the Victoria Grizzlies for the third time this season. Kings pre-game coverage starts at 12:45 on 95.7 Coast FM and Hockey TV.
