Paulsen Lautard fired a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, as the host Summerland Steam topped the North Okanagan Knights 4-3 in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League play Friday night.
All of Summerland’s regulation goals were special teams jobs, with Vernon’s Cole Woodliffe (20th goal) opening the scoring while shorthanded with five minutes left in period one. Lautard (16th) and Michael McEachern (2nd) collected powerplay tallies in the middle frame.
Answering for the 5-31-1-4 Knights were Dustin Kostiuk, with his first two goals of the year, and Christopher Mostoka, who also pocketed his first goal midway through the third period.
Knights’ netminder Josh Shank recorded an incredible 59 saves, while Spencer Huff had 30 stops for the Steam, now 25-14-0-2.
North Okanagan began a four-game home stand Saturday against the Kimberley Dynamiters (22-15-2-3), and will entertain the Princeton Posse (18-18-2-2) today in a 3 p.m. matinee at Nor-Val Sports Centre.
Meanwhile, in Midget Rep action Friday night in Rutland, Jeremy Pogue fired the winner as the Vernon Coca Cola Tier 2 Vipers iced the Kelowna Tier 3s 3-2.
Backed by netminder Conor Webb, Vernon got a first-period goal from Julian Darkazanli, assisted by Easton Jones and Kyle Sherwood. Dex Elders, from Cordell Oppenheimer and Austin Derkach, scored in the second frame before Easton and Sherwood set up Pogue’s winner.
