After a debilitating loss to Nelson last week, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks bounced back to take a pair of games on the weekend from the Grand Forks Border Bruins and Columbia Valley Rockies.
The Hawks squeaked by the Bruins 4-3 on Friday, before sending the Rockies on a rough ride home with a 4-1 loss on Sunday.
Dallas Calvin looked to be back on track Sunday after suffering from an illness the past week, as he scored what proved to be the winner a minute into the second period against Columbia. Calvin took a pass from Nick Perez and chipped it over goalie Stewart Pratt to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead.
Perez opened the scoring late in the first, as he made a nice move entering the Rockies zone, used the defenceman as a screen, then popped in his own rebound to put the Hawks up 1-0.
The Rockies would respond to Calvin’s goal, when Stephen Pratt banged in a nice cross-ice pass for a power-play goal at 15:49 of the second to make it 2-1.
The Hawks goalie Zach Perehudoff shut the door after that, making several big saves look easy, and stopping 34 of 35 shots for first-star honours.
After a good forecheck by Luke Reimer and Jordan Magico, the Hawks’ Danny Vlanich picked up the puck and wristed a high, hard shot over the glove of Pratt, to put the Hawks up 3-1 at the 11:23 mark.
Sixteen-year-old Riley Brandt made a great individual effort, poking the puck past the d-man then racing in on a breakaway, and making no mistake as he deftly deked Pratt to make it 4-1 Hawks.
In the Friday night tilt against the inter-division Border Bruins, former Nitehawk goalie Dominic Stadnyk made several huge saves and kept the game tight, but in the end the Hawks were able to salvage the 4-3 victory.
Luke Reimer’s late-game heroics lifted the Hawks to victory, as he took a pass from Magico and potted the winner with just 2:19 remaining in regulation.
The Hawks fired 45 shots at Stadnyk who B.V. traded to the Bruins earlier this month and Grand Forks replied with 38 shots on Perehudoff.
Nick Perez opened the scoring on a powerplay early in the first and Michael Bell made it 2-0 at 9:51 of the second period before Grand Forks responded with a pair of their own to tie it heading into the third period.
Vlanich would net a nice unassisted marker to put the Hawks up 3-2, but Jackson Purvis would respond at the 12:43 mark to tie it.
Both Vlanich and Calvin had two point nights for the Hawks while Kublai Barias and Connor Kidd also counted a pair for the Bruins.
The Hawks next home game goes Saturday as they host the Sicamous Eagles at 7:30 p.m. at the Beaver Valley Arena.
Watch for more hockey news in the Tuesday edition of the Trail Times.
