Vincent Millette returned to action for the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Wednesday night, but his presence wasn’t enough to get the team back in the win column.
Millette had two assists for the Caps in his first game since suffering an injury in Penticton on Oct. 13 as Cowichan lost 4-3 to his former team, the Nanaimo Clippers. Prior to the injury, the 20-year-old team captain was off to a good start with nine points in 13 games.
The visiting Clippers opened the scoring just two minutes and 17 seconds into the first period, and led 2-0 before Millette set up Paul Selleck with 52 seconds left in the opening frame. Former Cap Jonathan Stein restored Nanaimo’s two-goal lead late in the second period, and the Clippers got a shorthanded marker 25 seconds into the third to go up 4-1.
Defenceman Dimitri Mikrogiannakis and forward Luc Wilson scored to get the Caps within one, but the tying goal proved elusive.
David Melaragni had a pair of assists on the night to bring his team-leading point total to 30 on the season (six goals and 24 assists). Blake Wood started the game in net and allowed two goals on eight shots over 13 minutes and 53 seconds. Jack Grant played the next 45:19, stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced. The Caps had 25 of their 28 shots on Nanaimo’s Landon Pavlisin turned aside.
The Caps will play host to the Prince George Spruce Kings on Saturday at 6 p.m. before playing their next four games on the road.