The momentum swing was a recurring theme Saturday night as the Castlegar Rebels payed a fruitful visit to the Kamloops Storm.
The Kootenay group earned a 5-3 win, making it two for two ahead of the Sunday closer of its three game road swing in Armstrong.
The following is a summary of the highlights on the night thanks to information furnished by kijhl.ca.
The Rebels stormed out of the gate with a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period. Putting their squad in control were Brenden Heinrich from Bryan Lubin and Peter Mingus; Lubin from Darren Medeiros and Kody Disher; then Disher on an unassisted power play effort.
With three minutes to go in the second frame the Storm had clawed back on even terms. With the Rebels down a man, Devin Oakes would break the goose-egg with helpers from Daniel Buchanan and Josh Rasmussen. Josh Rasmussen, again on the power play would then draw his team within one, set up by Ryan Skinner and Devin Oakes.
The equalizer came courtesy of Buchanan from Oakes and Skinner.
Castlegar headed into the second intermission having regained the upper hand with a tally from Jamie Vlanich (Dylan Bowerman).
The third period was scoreless until the insurance goal was recorded, unassisted, by Castlegar’s Diego Bartlett into an empty net with under a minute on the clock.
It was Connor Beauchamp backstopping the Rebel’s win,
Marcus Beesley in the nets for the Storm. The Rebels had a 43-31 edge in the shot department.
According to the kijhl standings as listed Saturday night, the action in Kamloops left the Rebels nipping at the heels of front-running Nelson in the Neil Murdoch division of the Kootenay Conference, with a comfortable lead over third place Beaver Valley.
Kamloops, with 28 points was good for third spot in the Okanangan/Shuswap conference’s Doug Birks Division.
