The Beaver Valley Nitehawks picked up three-of-four points on the road this weekend, and face the league leading Kimberley Dynamiters in an upcoming match at the Hawks Nest on Friday.
Both Nitehawks games against the Golden Rockets and Columbia Valley Rockies went to overtime, with B.V. dropping a 5-4 decision in Golden on Friday before besting the Rockies in Invermere 2-1.
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B.V. forward Bradley Ross scored the overtime winner on Saturday for his 17th of the season. Ross converted a setup from Nate Ingram with 1:02 to play in the second OT to earn the win. The victory leaves the Hawks just one point behind the Nelson Leafs for the Neil Murdoch Division lead, after the Leafs dropped three straight games to to Kimberley, 5-0, and Golden, 5-3, on the weekend, and 6-4 to Fernie Thursday night.
Simon Nemethy opened the scoring for B.V., beating Columbia goalie Casey James Thomson at 8:59 of the first period. However, the Rockies answered on a goal from Khale Skinner just over a minute later.
The game remained deadlocked at one, as B.V. dominated the match but could not beat the Rockies goalie through the remainder of regulation despite outshooting the Rockies 44-26.
In Friday’s match, B.V. jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Marcus McEachern and Lucas Anselmo, however, the Rockets struck back before the period was out tying the game on goals from Jacob Dewar and Liam Morris.
Jayden Hendricks scored a second-period, power-play goal to give Golden a 3-2 lead at 14:00, and Lare Pahtayken made it 4-2 on another power play at 11:27 of the third.
B.V. battled back, and Edmonton native Philippe Lessard notched his third of the season with 8:25 to play. Ethan Jang tied it at 4-4 with just under four minutes remaining in regulation to force the extra frame.
After a scoreless first OT, the Rockets scored a shorthanded goal in the 3-on-3 overtime when Dante Pietrarca broke in and beat B.V. goalie Saran Virdee.
The Nitehawks outshot Golden 43-23, were 0-for-4 on the power play, and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Hawks return to the Beaver Valley Arena for a game against the Dynamiters on Friday. Kimberley, 18-2-0-1, leads the league with 37 points and will prove a definite challenge for the hometown Hawks. The last time the teams met was on Sept. 13 in Kimberley when the Dynamiters won 4-3 in overtime. The Hawks also faced Kimberley in the 2019 Kootenay Conference final where Kimberley emerged with a 4-1 series win.
The Dynamiters own a dynamic offence led by KIJHL top scorer Brock Palmer with 25 goals and 50 points in 21 games and Nelson native Ryan Piva with26 points. But it’s their defence that has stymied opposition throughout the season. The Nitros have allowed the least goals in the KI, 51, backstopped by Blake Pilon, 2,31 GAA, and Adam Andersen, 2.35 GAA.
The Nitehawks hope to be healthy for this one and have Morgan Peace and Marty Ingram back in the line up.
The Hawks-Dynamiters face off at 7 p.m. at the Beaver Valley Arena on Friday.
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