The Grand Forks Border Bruins won its second straight game over the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Friday in a 4-1 victory at Jack Goddard Arena.
Sidney Cruz scored twice for the Bruins including the game winner to help Grand Forks split the season series 3-3 with the Nitehawks. Cruz finished a setup from former Nitehawks defenceman Evan Gorman and August Demaere at 14:03 of the second period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
Cruz has nine points in 12 games since going to Grand Forks from the Golden Rockets on Nov. 30 where he had just two assists in 14 matches. The Calgary native opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 14:03 of the opening frame.
B.V. forward Bradley Ross tied it at the seven minute mark of the first converting a pass from Morgan Peace for his 16th goal and 32nd point.
But B.V. again was stymied by solid goalkeeping from Ross King who stopped all 12 shots in the second period. The Hawks also failed to convert on a four-minute power play when Nathan Cohen-Wallis was sent off for slew-footing, and received a 10-minute misconduct.
The Border Bruins Rilee Poffenroth added an insurance marker at 12:55 of the third period, and Jake Huculak scored into an empty net with an assist to Cruz with 1:49 to play for the 4-1 final.
Frustration set in for the Nitehawks in the final minute as Luke Recchi, Nolan Corrado, and Luke Woodrow all received 10-minute misconducts, along with the Bruins Max Lozeman.
Grand Forks beat the Nitehawks 3-1 on Jan. 5 in Beaver Valley but lost to Spokane 2-1 in OT on Sunday and 7-5 to Nelson on Tuesday before grounding the Hawks once again.
B.V. outshot Grandforks 33-32 and went 0-for-7 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1-for-5.
The Nitehawks next game is on Friday when they host the Creston Valley Thunder Cats at 7:30 p.m. at the Hawks Nest. The Hawks travel to Nelson on Saturday for a tilt against the Murdoch Division leading Leafs.
