The Beaver Valley Nitehawks are winless after their opening two games of the season, but still earned two points in the Neil Murdoch Division standings after a pair of overtime losses.
The Nitehawks fell 4-3 in OT to Kimberley on Friday night to open the season, and by the same score in an extra period on Saturday in Grand Forks against the Border Bruins.
The Nitehawks dominated the Border Bruins through three periods, but needed a Dayton Nelson goal with 38 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime.
Related read: Exhibition: Nitehawks rout Rebels
Grand Forks forward Jordan DeGouw spoiled the Hawks comeback and ended it early in the extra frame scoring 23 seconds in for the 4-3 Bruins win.
The Hawks outshot the Border Bruins 42-24 but Grand Forks goalie Shane Zilka kept the home team in contention, especially in the first period when B.V. outshot Grand Forks, 16-6, yet took a scoreless tie into the middle frame.
The Nitehawks Ethan Jang gave B.V. a 1-0 lead midway through the second, but Grand Forks replied when Sidney Cruz beat Hawks goalie Kevin Engman with a shorthanded goal with 2:12 remaining.
The Nitehawks got it back before the period was out when Nelson converted a setup from Bradley Ross to regain a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins evened the score at 16:27 of the third on a power-play tally by Jake Huckulak and with time winding down, Nathan Cohen-Wallis notched his first of the season with just over two minutes to play.
The tough loss comes on the heels of another overtime setback to the Dynamiters in Kimberley on Friday. The Nitros Brock Palmer netted a hat trick including the game winner 35 seconds into the second 3-0n-3 overtime period.
B.V. battled back from a 3-0 first period deficit, on goals from Ross, Nelson, and Zach Park. B.V. goalie, Saran Virdee, was sharp in his first start, with Kimberley holding a 43-21 shots advantage. The physical match up saw Kimberley go 1-for-13 on the power play, while B.V. was 1-for-9.
Nelson (3G,1A) and Ross (1G,3A) lead the Hawks in points, and B.V. sits in a tie for second place with 1-1-0-0 Castlegar and Grand Forks.
The Spokane Braves currently lead the Neil Murdoch Division with a 2-1-0-0 record, while the Nelson Leafs are winless after falling 3-2 to the Fernie Ghostriders in overtime and 5-1 to the Creston Valley Thundercats.
Beaver Valley hosts its first home game of the season on Friday against the 100 Mile House Wranglers, and are back in the Hawks Nest Saturday versus the Sicamous Eagles with both games set to start at 7 p.m.
sports@trailtimes.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
sports@trailtimes.ca
