Langley, BC – The Langley Rivermen battled back with two goals in the third period but fell 3-2 to the Nanaimo Clippers in double overtime Sunday afternoon as they finish the weekend with five of a possible six points.
The Clippers gave the Rivermen a huge opportunity in the first minute of the game when Mason Mitchell was handed 7 minutes in penalties, but Langley could only manage two shots on goal as Nanaimo's penalty kill avoided what could have been a big early deficit for the visitors. The Clippers built off that momentum and took a 1-0 lead when Bo Brauer put in his own rebound past Lyndon Stanwood on the power play with six minutes to go in the frame.
Jacob Hanlon made it a 2-0 Clippers lead midway through the second when Ryan Forbes made a nice pass down low to his open winger. The Clippers got into more penalty trouble late in the second as the Rivermen had a 5-on-3 man advantage for well over a minute which carried over into the third.
The Rivermen weren't able to capitalize on the two man advantage but late on the 5-on-4, Chris Forney earned his third of the season as he crept in towards the net and put home a pass from Mitch McLain to put Langley on the board in the first minute of the final period. Then at the 11:17 mark, Gage Torrel tipped a Tony Bretzman feed past Jayson Argue to tie the game at two.
After the first overtime period solved nothing, the Rivermen and Clippers were off to double overtime where Sheldon Rempal was left alone near the crease and got a feed from Colton Dahlen at the point handing the Rivermen their second double overtime loss of the season.
The Rivermen now enter the Christmas break at 22-11-1-3 and hold a six point lead over Prince George for first place in the Mainland division. Langley is back in action December 28th as the Rivermen host the Coquitlam Express for the first of a home-and-home weekend series.
