One game does not a series make.
The North Okanagan Knights had to remember that mantra heading into Game 2 of their Kootenay International Junior Hockey League conference quarterfinal Saturday with the Okanagan Division champion Osoyoos Coyotes.
The Yotes scored seven unanswered goals in an 8-1 rout of the Knights in the series opener Friday at the Sun Bowl Arena before 360 fans.
Game 2 was also in the South Okanagan before the series shifts to Armstrong’s Nor-Val Sports Centre for Games 3 and 4 Monday and Tuesday (7:30 p.m. starts).
Players of the game Louis Shortreed of the Knights and Ryan Roseboom of Osoyoos exchanged first-period powerplay markers.
The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead just 31 seconds into the game, the goal coming 16 seconds after Dean Whitcomb was whistled for a cross-checking infraction.
Shortreed tied the game at 13:35, set up by Jack Berger and Jason Shaigec.
The Coyotes scored three times in the second and added four more in the third on a beleaguered Daniel Paul in the North Okanagan net.
Paul made 46 saves while counterpart Adam Jones had to face only 18 shots.
Osoyoos was 5-2-1 against the fourth-place Knights in the regular season, outscoring North Okanagan 32-13 in the eight games. The Coyotes finished 43 points ahead of the Knights in the standings.
In the other Okanagan Division series, the third-place Kelowna Chiefs got a goal from Jason Village with 2:10 left in regulation time to stun the hometown Summerland Steam 3-2.
In the Okanagan Conference’s Doug Birks Division, the pennant-winning Chase Heat lost 5-4 at home to the fourth-place Revelstoke Grizzlies while the defending league champion 100 Mile House Wranglers dumped the Kamloops Storm 4-1.
The regular season overall champion Beaver Valley Nitehawks needed a goal with 20 seconds left in the third to beat the Grand Forks Border Bruins 3-2 in the Kootenay Conference’s Neil Murdoch Division.
The Nelson Leafs got a goal from Sawyer Hunt on a powerplay at 12:32 of the fourth overtime period Thursday to beat the Castlegar Rebels 3-2. The goal came with Castlegar’s Dallas Goodwin in the box for a checking from behind minor (also received game misconduct).
In the Eddie Mountain Division, the division-winning Creston Valley Thundercats downed the Columbia Valley Rockies 5-1 and the Kimberley Dynamiters whipped the Fernie Ghostriders 8-3.
All series resumed Saturday.
The Thundercats will host the provincial Junior B championship tournament.
