The Beaver Valley Nitehawks were toppled from the peak of the Neil Murdoch Division standings on the weekend.
B.V. fell to the surging Leafs on Friday in a physical and penalty-filled outing, which saw the Leafs rally from a 1-0 deficit and score three unanswered goals for a 3-1 victory.
Bradley Ross tallied the lone goal for the Nitehawks scoring on the power play at 7:36 of the first period, with assists to Quaid Anderson and Brock Wallace.
However, Bryden Pow scored twice for the Leafs, netting a power play goal at 11:09 of the second period, and what proved to be the game winner on an unassisted effort at 11:44 of the final frame to put the Leafs up 2-1.
Less than a minute later, Joe Davidson scored an insurance marker for the Leafs, who made it eight wins in a row. Nelson’s Anderson Violette made 27 saves, while Beaver Valley goaltender Saran Virdee faced 26 shots, with each team going 1-for-7 on the power play.
The 9-2-1-2 Hawks were tied for first place with the Leafs following the match, however, Nelson took sole possession of top spot with an 8-4 victory over the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Saturday. With its ninth straight victory, the Leafs improve to 10-2-0-3, two points up on Beaver Valley, who have a game in hand.
The Nitehawks are back in action this weekend, hosting the 4-10-0-1 Kamloops Storm on Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Hawks Nest, and travel to Fernie for a Saturday match up versus the 7-5-0-2 Ghostriders.