The Clippers won in Penticton but lost games to the Smoke Eaters and Silverbacks on their Interior road trip. (Gary Dorland)

By Dan Marshall

Road Warriors Return

Clippers Weekend Wrap: Oct. 18-20

Oct 22, 2019 | 2:38 PM

NANAIMO – The Clippers finished 1-2 on their weekend road trip to Trail, Penticton, and Salmon Arm.

Their trip began with a matchup against the Trail Smoke Eaters, and two teams with long winning streaks.

Nanaimo’s run ended at seven games after a 4-1 loss.

Josh Bourne scored the only goal as he extended a team high point streak to nine games.

In Penticton one night later, the Clippers had arguably their finest performance of the season in a 4-1 victory.

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Travis Walton had two shorthanded goals in the game, while Jordan Naylor stopped 28 of 29 shots.

Naylor now sits with the best goals against average in the BCHL at 1.41.

With a short turnaround, Nanaimo traveled to Salmon Arm to face the team with the best home record in the league.

The Silverbacks won 2-0 to up their home ice record to 8-1 for the 2019-20 season.

Power plays were a story in the game with the Clippers down a man eight times compared four opportunities on the man advantage.

Salmon Arm goalie Ethan Langenegger was also a huge factor stopping all 33 shots he faced.

Langenegger was named BCHL Player of the Week for the second straight time in part because of his strong outing against Nanaimo.

The Clippers trip was unusual for a couple reasons.

Firstly almost half of the players had their dad’s in attendance.

The fathers flew or drove in from parts of BC and even from the eastern US to experience life on the road in the BCHL.

By the end of the weekend the dad’s had gained an appreciation for what their sons have to go through during the season, and having their fathers on the team bus and at the rink was clearly emotional for the players.

It was also unique that the Clippers were playing their second three game road trip in as many weeks.

The aggregate effect of the team traveling to Prince George, Merritt, Langley, Trail, Penticton, and Salmon Arm showed at times in the Oct. 20 game versus the Silverbacks.

Nanaimo now starts a six game home stand with a contest against the Victoria Grizzlies on Oct. 25.

The Clippers enter the week with a 10-5-0-1 record, one point behind Cowichan Valley for first place in the Island Division.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77