In KIJHL action, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks earned just a single point on a two-game swing through the Okanagan on the weekend.
The Hawks dropped a 4-2 decision to the Kelowna Chiefs on Friday before drawing to a 3-3 tie against the North Okanagan Knights on Saturday despite a dramatic tilt in the ice.
Beaver Valley fired 53 shots at the Knights netminder Tristan Quiring but the Armstrong native foiled the Hawks sharp shooters at almost every turn. The Knights jumped out to a 3-1 first period lead before B.V. battled back to tie it in the third and force overtime.
Mitch Cobbett opened the scoring for the Knights beating new goaltending addition Billy Gorn less than three minutes in. However, after a penalty to NOK forward Dallas Keller, Tyler Ghiradosi tied it up on the power play, scoring his second of the season with assists going to Tyler Hartman and Lyle Frank.
But after Ghiradosi was sent off for holding, Cobbett netted his second of the night at 10:13, and Cameron Welch made it 3-1 just 24 seconds later.
B.V. outshot North Okanagan 20-9, and would continue to swarm the Knights net in the second. The Hawks drew within one on another power-play goal by Ghiradosi capitalizing on a Jace Weegar and McKoy Hauk setup to make it 3-2 at 14:21 of the middle frame.
B.V. Fired 19 shots at Quiring in the second, while the Knights could manage just three shots on the Hawks net. Dylan Heppler tied it two minutes into the third period, taking a pass from Devin Nemes and beating Quiring, but two five-minute overtime periods would solve nothing as the teams skated to the 3-3 tie with B.V. holding a 53-20 edge in shots.
Gorn, a 19-year-old Edmonton native, was acquired from the Campbell River Storm of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. The five-foot-11 goaltender played 17 games for the Olds Grizzlys of the AJHL in 2014-15 and sported a 4.17 goals against average with a .855 save percentage and two shutouts.
In Friday’s match, after a scoreless first period, Ryan Lawson put Kelowna up 1-0 beating Hawks goalie Jason Mailhiot at 16:13 of the second period. Hauck tied it up six minutes later on a setup from Sam Swanson and Kyle Hope, but Jonathon Lee restored the lead for the Chiefs.
Jaxon Joseph tied the game at 2:47, however two third period goals would clinch it for the Chiefs, despite being outshot 14-10 in the final frame and 41-29 in the game.
The Hawks play in Spokane on Friday before returning home for a game against the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Saturday at 7:30 a.m.
