The Beaver Valley Nitehawks started the season on a winning note, defeating the Nelson Leafs 3-1 on Friday, before drawing even with the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Saturday.
A classic goaltender’s duel ended in a rare 1-1 overtime tie between the Nitehawks and Border Bruins on Saturday night at the Grand Forks Arena.
Nitehawks forward Jaxon Gemmell solved Border Bruins netminder Anthony Galliart with less than five minutes to play in the third period to salvage a point for the Nitehawks.
Gemmell netted his first of the season on a setup from Tyler and Devin Ghiradosi, but both netminders shut the door through the 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 overtimes.
The Bruins opened the scoring when Chad Grambo beat Kramer on a power play with 2:35 to play in the first period, converting a setup from Conner Brennan and Dylan Haney to give Grand Forks a 1-0 lead.
Beaver Valley fired 17 shots at the Bruin goal in the second period, and enjoyed three extra-man advantages but could not solve Galliart. BV’s Tallon Kramer was as good in the third when Grand Forks outshot BV 13-11 and had a two-man advantage in the dying seconds of the period and beginning of OT.
Galliart made 48 saves while his counterpart Kramer stopped 38 in goal for the Nitehawks. Both goalies received the player of the game nods in a heated battle that saw the Nitehawks go 0-for-11 on the power play and Grand Forks 1-for-6.
On Friday, the Nitehawks opened the season with a victory over Nelson. Kramer had another strong performance making 24 saves on the night and Blake Sidoni scored the winner, breaking a 1-1 tie with 5:27 remaining in the second period.
The Leafs opened the scoring on a shorthanded effort by Kolten Nelson 90 seconds into the first, but BV evened it up when Kyle Hope scored a power-play goal at the 8:01 mark. Dylan Heppler added the insurance with 1:46 to go in the middle frame as Beaver Valley dominated through two periods holding a 31-14 edge in shots.
The third period remained scoreless with the Nitehawks outshooting the Leafs 43-24 and going 1-for-7 on the power play while Nelson went 0-for-5.
The Nitehawks next home game goes on Friday night when they host the Castlegar Rebels at 7:30 p.m.
