JOSH LOCKHART
The Kimberley Dynamiters are one of the hottest teams in the KIJHL after winning their fifth and sixth games in a row this past weekend.
First up was the Columbia Valley Rockies, fresh off an overtime loss to the Golden Rockets last weekend, but only trailing Kimberley by four points in the standings heading into the game.
The Dynamiters were sporting new green jerseys in support of kidney cancer research — the jerseys are being auctioned off.
The Nitros wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as Braiden Koran scored his fifth of the season.
WATCH:https://youtu.be/R_pXe56FZ38
Neil Kingston followed up with his seventh goal of the season, to give the Dynamiters a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Dynamiters bolstered their lead in the middle period. Ryan Bennett got his first career KIJHL goal, and Koran scored his second of the game. It was 4-0 after 40 minutes.
“It was a great feeling.” Bennett said about scoring his first goal in front of family and friends, “finally getting it off the back. Hopefully there is a lot more throughout the year.”
In the third, just before the five minutes left mark, the Rockies got a goal of their own. Twenty-five seconds later, Brandt Bertoia got the goal back, 5-1.
That would be the final score as Adam Andersen made 20 saves in the win. The Nitros fired an astounding 52 shots on net.
Koran was named the star of the game with his two goals and one assists.
“It was good, I always love scoring goals.” Koran said. “I was just feeling it tonight, everything was just going my way.”
“We played extremely well. Good effort from all the guys.” Koran then added, “We are going to keep ‘er going, all year.”
The surprise team of the season, the Golden Rockets, rolled in to town on Saturday.
Again, the Nitros scored early in the game, this time it was Carter Spring.
Brady Daniels would score the teams second goal of the game. After the first period, the Nitros were up 2-0.
In the second, the Rockets pressured for the first ten minutes. The last half of the second period was all Kimberley.
Brady Daniels scored his second of the game, Spencer Kennedy notched his eighth of the year, and then Keegan McDowell got his 11th of the year. After 40 minutes, Kimberley led 5-0.
“It was pretty awesome.” Daniels said about scoring his two goals. “It’s good to see individual success, especially when the team is winning and competing all night.
“Pucks were going in for me, I’m pretty happy.”
In the third, the Nitros power play started clicking. Captain Chase Gedny banged home a puck in the crease, and Lucas Chilton, #3, scored his first of the year at the 3:33 mark of the third period.
Star of the game, Brett Anderson would turn away all 20 shots for his first career shutout, as the Nitros won 7-0.
“I feel great. First shut out, it feels nice. The teams doing really well, we are clicking.” Anderson said after the game, “we have really great goalie depth. We both gel really well.”
After the game, the Kimberley Dynamiters social media shared that their past four home games have been against each divisional opponent. In those games the Nitros have outscored their opponents 22-3, and outshot them 201-74.
If that gets extended to the whole six-game winning streak, the Dynamiters have outscored their opposition 32-5, and have outshot them 263-114.
The Dynamiters look to maintain their momentum as they host the Beaver Valley Nitehawks on Friday and the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Saturday. Both games start at 7pm and are at the Kimberley Civic Centre.
