Five games left, one playoff spot to be determined.
The North Okanagan Knights and Princeton Posse remain tied for the final Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Okanagan Division playoff spot.
The Posse (12-27-1-5) have two games left and North Okanagan (14-28-1-1) has three, including a massive showdown Saturday in Princeton.
The Knights have a game in hand, though that game would only be played if necessary, and, if it is played, the Knights will be down three goals at the start.
North Okanagan will host the Summerland Steam Tuesday if the game is relevant to the Knights’ playoff aspirations. The game is the conclusion of a contest postponed Dec. 2 due to a transformer failure at the Nor-Val Sports Centre. The Steam were ahead 4-1 with 4:01 left in the second period, and that’s where the game will pick up.
It’s slated to start at 7:30 p.m.
The Knights are also two games ahead in the win column and would take a tiebreaker with the Posse if the clubs finish with the same amount of points.
North Okanagan and Princeton both lost Saturday.
The Knights dropped a 4-1 decision to the Storm in Kamloops.
Dean Whitcomb scored his 18th on a powerplay 2:49 into the contest for a 1-0 lead, but Storm goalie Jason Sandhu shut the door the rest of the way, finishing with 31 saves.
Kamloops scored twice in the first and added two more 90 seconds apart midway through the third to chase North Okanagan starter Conor Webb. Daniel Paul took over and the pair combined to 41 saves.
Summerland went into Princeton and edged the Posse 4-3 in regulation time.
The Steam will finish second – guaranteed when the Osoyoos Coyotes clinched the division with a 2-0 win Saturday against the Chiefs in Kelowna – and will play the Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs.
North Okanagan hosts Osoyoos Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Nor-Val while the Posse entertain Summerland.
