It showed in the early going, but a two-week holiday hiatus didn’t keep the North Okanagan Knights down for long.
After spotting the Sicamous Eagles an early 2-0 lead, the Knights rallied with three unanswered goal en route to a 4-3 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League win Friday night in Sicamous.
Vernon’s Tanner Burns, with his 11th and 12th goals of the season, powered the Knights’ attack with two goals and an assist. Bryce Koch buried the winner on a third-period powerplay. Armstrong’s Brett Hawrys finished with two helpers.
“It’s hard to get back at it (after a long break),” said Knights’ head coach Kris Mallette. “10 minutes in and we were cutting corners for sure.”
The Eagles (13-19-1-1) took the lead on singles by Connor Fynn and Brendon Wilde before Lee Muir answered for North Okanagan (24-10-0-1) later in the frame, leaning into a hard shot to beat Kris Drott (23 saves) from the top of the circle. Dustin Nikkel recorded 34 stops for the win.
Burns collected his goals early in the second frame before Wilde added his second during a powerplay.
The Knights hosted the Penticton Lakers (16-12-1-6) Saturday night, and are in Chase today (2 p.m.) to take on the Heat (3-30-1).
