Ghastly injury overshadows Vees’ win

The Vees pushed a depleted and overmatched Coquitlam Express team to the brink of elimination, but may have lost one of their top players to a frightening injury.

Wyatt Sloboshan and Chris Klack each scored twice during a fivegoal second-period outburst as the visiting Vees blasted the Express 7-2 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series.

Vees standout defenceman Nicky Leivermann was taken off the ice by stretcher after being pushed head-first into the boards at full speed by Coquitlam forward Dominic Davis at 19:14 of the second period.

The rookie was reported to be moving his arms and legs freely as he was transported to hospital.

Jackson Keane, Marcus Mitchell and Jack Barnes also scored for the Vees, who can wrap up the series in Game 4 tonight in Coquitlam.

Jack MacNab and Christian Sanda scored for the Express, who were forced to use five affiliated players – one of them being Davis – after a flu bug made its way through the team.

Adam Scheel made 15 saves for the Vees, who pelted two Coquitlam goalies with 51 shots.

MacNab and Sanda, sandwiched around Keane’s goal, gave the Express a 2-1 lead after one period despite a 24-10 deficit in shots.

The roof caved in on the home team in the second period, though. Sloboshan tied it on the power play at 6:48 before Klack and Mitchell scored in a 10-second span to give the Vees a 4-2 lead.

The Express called a timeout to stem the tide, but the Vees went up 5-2 with three minutes left as Sloboshan bagged his second.

The teams were sent to the dressing room after Leivermann’s horrific crash into the boards with 46 seconds left in the period. Davis was handed a boarding major and game misconduct.

After a 45-minute delay, Klack scored 23 seconds into the power play and before the second period officially ended to make it 6-2.

Barnes added one more during the major at 3:11 of the third period. Hamm stormed out of the net after the goal and was replaced by Clay Stevenson.

Vipers 4 Silverbacks 2: Derek Brown scored two first-period goals and Vernon triumphed in Salmon Arm to take a 3-0 lead.

The Vipers can wrap up the series on the road tonight.

Smoke Eaters 6 Warriors 3: Tyler Ghiradosi had a hat trick and Levi Glasman scored twice as Trail completed a four-game sweep of West Kelowna at Royal LePage Place.

Wenatchee opened a 3-0 lead in the other Interior Division firstround series with a 5-4 road win over the Merritt Centennials.