In a pre-Christmas battle of KIJHL titans in Nelson on Wednesday, the Castlegar Rebels came out firmly on top beating the Leafs 6-1.
Jamie Vlanich opened the scoring at 8:25 of the first period for the Rebels. Aaron Petten and Bryan Lubin put Castlegar up 3-0 with second period goals.
Aaron Dunlap scored Nelson's only goal at 16:56 of the third period to put the Leafs within two, 3-1. But Vlanich, with his second, scored a minute and a half later to give the Rebs a 4-1 lead and take the wind out of the Leafs' sails.
Darren Medeiros and Kody Disher finished off the scoring for the Rebels.
Jordan Gluck got the win in net for the Rebels, and also picked up the second star.
Castlegar is now off for their Christmas break anthe first 10 minutes. They scored a goal after a big penalty kill and they gained momentum.”
When the final buzzer sounded the Rebels celebrated like they had just one the biggest games of the season. Which is likely the fact.
“They were rubbing it in our face… we’ll take note,” Nelson defenceman J.J. Beitel said of the enthusiastic celebration by the Rebels.
The assistant captain said the Leafs will use the loss as fuel to come back from the Christmas break hungry.
Castlegar is now off for their Christmas break and are only two points behind Nelson in the race for first place in the Neil Murdoch division and in the KIJHL as well.