The Beaver Valley Nitehawks kept their season alive with a big 4-1 victory over the Kimberley Dynamiters on Saturday night at the Hawks’ Nest.
Nitehawks forward Michael Hagen scored his sixth of the post season and what proved to be the game winner 30 seconds into the second period for a 2-0 Beaver Valley lead.
The Game-4 matchup was a must-win game for B.V. after the Dynamiters went up 3-0 in the Kootenay Conference final series. The loss was Kimberley’s first of the playoffs, reeling off 11 straight victories before Saturday’s setback.
Bradley Ross gave the Hawks a first period 1-0 lead on a power-play goal at 6:41, with assists to Nolan Corrado and Simon Nemethy.
Nitehawks goalie Noah Decottignies was sharp all night, making several large saves in the first period as the Dynamiters outshot B.V. 13-11.
Sixty-five seconds after Hagen made it 2-0, Nitehawks forward Kevin Duguid converted a setup from Luke Woodrow for a 3-0 lead, and chased Nitros starter Adam Andersen from the crease.
The Nitros Neil Kingston beat Decottignies with a power-play goal at 13:27 to get Kimberley on the board. But Ryan Cirsalli and Hagen set up Brock Wallace to restore the three-goal lead on a power play at the 10 minute mark.
The Nitehawks outshot Kimberley 14-11, in what was arguably B.V.’s best period of the series.
Decottignies was unbeatable in the third, as the Dynamiters threw everything they had at the Hawks goalie, outshooting B.V. 20-4 in the final frame and 44-29 in the game. The Hawks went 2-for-6 on the power play, Kimberley was 1-for-7.
Hagen’s goal and an assist gives him 22 points for the playoffs, the top point-getter in the Kootenay Conference.
Beaver Valley heads to Kimberley on Monday for Game 5 of the Conference final and will look to return to the Nest for Game 6 scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m.
In the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference, the Kelowna Chiefs tied the series at 2-2 with a 5-2 victory over the Revelstoke Grizzlies on Saturday.
