It was a tale of two very different teams on the weekend. The Jeckyl and Hyde Beaver Valley Nitehawks were buried under a pile of Leafs’ goals in Nelson Friday, before rebounding with a big 5-1 win over Sicamous the
next night.
The Hawks were bombed by the Leafs 12-0 at the Nelson Civic Centre, but returned home to the Hawks Nest a very different team on Saturday.
To their credit, a demoralized Hawks team that suffered the second such thrashing in as many games against Nelson, looked to have forgotten all about it by the time they faced off against the Eagles.
Connor Brown-Maloski netted the game winner at 9:27 of the first period converting a pass from Archie McKinnon to put Beaver Valley up 2-0. Maloski had a three-point night, and was a constant threat in the
offensive zone.
Russell Mortlock put the Hawks up early, finishing a nice play from Nick Perez at 2:25 of the first period. Perez continues to lead the team in scoring and currently sits in 11th spot in the league with seven goals and 14 assists.
Fraser Stang notched his first goal of the season, on his way to a Gordie Howe hat trick, also picking up an assist and dropping the gloves against Collin Mathieson in the third period.
The Hawks took a 4-0 lead on the power play, when Derek Lashuk blasted one by Sicamous goaltender Jack Surgenor.
The third period saw both teams get a little testy. Kurt Black added another B. V. marker a minute into the third. Moments later Riley Brandt laid a crushing hit on Cameron Berry, drawing the ire of Braeden Taekema. The six-foot-three, 19-year-old Taekema overmatched the feisty 16-year old who wisely covered up. The Hawks’ James Veitch and Eagles’ Brad Crump followed it up at the next face off with a entertaining tilt, and the Stang-Mathiesson bout ensued a few minutes later.
Berry broke Travis Beekhuizen’s shut-out bid with five minutes remaining, but the Hawks’ goalie was outstanding in stopping 34 of 35 shots, for first-star honours, while the Hawks fired 44 at Surgenor.
In the 12-0 debacle against Nelson, Jacob Boycuk came back to haunt his former team by scoring a hat trick while the Hawks managed just nine shots in the game against the Leafs.
The Nitehawks take on the Castlegar Rebels in Castlegar at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and host the Grand Forks Border Bruins at the same time Saturday.
