The Kamloops Storm had double the shots. The North Okanagan Knights had double the score.
Zach Dyment back the Knights with a 61-save performance as North Okanagan grounded Kamloops 6-3 in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League play Friday night at Nor-Val Sports Centre.
Logan Mostat fired back-to-back goals late in the first period to lead the Knights, who were outshot 64-32. The Salmon Arm product now has seven goals on the season.
“They’re normally a team that moves the puck well in the offensive zone, but we took away the middle of the ice all night,” said Knights’ head coach Shawn Webb. “They just shot everything from the outside.
“We carried the play, with the exception of five or six little breakdowns.”
After snapping a six-game losing streak last Sunday against Osoyoos, the Knights (18-19-0-1) all of a sudden have a little momentum as the Storm (31-7-0-1) are tops in the Doug Birks Division and are the first team to secure a playoff berth.
“We still have a really good chance of being a second-place team,” said Webb. “We don’t want to look behind us.”
Webb called out his vets following an undisciplined loss on Jan. 10 to Summerland. They have responded well.
“The last two games since that, our vets have been leading by example, and our rookies are absolutely following,” said Webb.
“As hard as the vets work, the rookies seem to follow. They’re jumping on board.”
Adding to the North Okanagan offence Friday were Ryan Kelm (7th goal), on a bar-down blast from the high slot, Blaine Caton (6th), using Kelm as a decoy on a 2-on-1, and Hawrys (9th), who capitalized on a shorthanded turnover created by captain TJ Christensen.
Responding for the Storm were Daniel Buchanan (19th), Spencer Schoech (9th) and Luke Gordon (20th).
North Okanagan visited the Chase Heat (18-19-0-2) Saturday night at Art Holding Memorial Arena. They finish a three-game weekend with a 1:35 p.m. matinee today against the Coyotes (22-15-0-1) at Oliver Arena.
