Coyotes notch road wins
After struggling through an 11-game winless streak, the Osoyoos Coyotes have got the ship pointed in the right direction.
The Coyotes (4-10-1) won road games in Spokane and Princeton on the weekend to extend their winning streak to three games, opening up a three-point lead over North Okanagan Knights for the last playoff position in the Okanagan Division.
The Summerland Steam (9-7-1-1) had a tougher time on the road, falling in overtime to North Okanagan before getting blanked by 100 Mile House on Saturday to end their seven-game unbeaten streak.
The Kelowna Chiefs (15-0-1-1), meanwhile, just keep breezing along with a win and a tie on the road. Kelowna is now the only KIJHL team without a regulation loss after the Revelstoke Grizzlies (11-1-0) were stunned 53 at home by Sicamous on Saturday.
SATURDAY – Coyotes 6 Posse 2: Peter Michailides notched a hat-trick and the Coyotes scored three goals in 2:07 span midway through the third period to blow the game open.
Bryson Garska had a goal and two assists and Blake Astorino and Cole Rezka also clicked for the Coyotes, who led 2-0 after each of the first two periods.
Lane French and Achille Casali scored late goals for the Posse (8-7-0) after the Coyotes had built a 6-0 lead. Osoyoos outshot Princeton 33-24. 100 Mile House 5 Steam 0: Garrett Hilton had a hat-trick and assisted on the other goals by Aidan Morrison and Harley Bootsma as the Wranglers thumped Summerland.
Daniel Allin made 35 saves for the shutout for the Wranglers (7-5-1-1) while Jared Breitkreuz made 30 saves for the Steam.
Kelowna 5 Beaver Valley 5: Dylan Kent scored twice, including the tying goal with 5:51 left, as the Chiefs rallied with three unanswered third period goals to salvage a tie with the Nite Hawks in Fruitvale.
Brody Dale scored his 20th goal and 52nd point – both league-highs – for Kelowna.
FRIDAY – Coyotes 2 Spokane 0: Brock Marple’s goal with 32 seconds left in the first period broke the deadlock and Daniel Paul made it stand with 31 saves as Osoyoos beat the Braves.
Daelen Der scored in the third period to ice it for the Coyotes, who had 33 shots on goal.
North Okanagan 5 Steam 4 (2-OT): Cole Haberlack scored with 2:27 left in the second overtime period as the Knights prevailed at the Nor-Val Centre in Armstrong.
Morey Babakaiff tied the game for the Steam with 32 seconds left to force overtime and earn Summerland a point.
The Steam had opened up a 3-0 lead on goals by Zack Cooper, Cody Swan and Ethan Grover, but the Knights (3-12-0) rallied to take the lead on two by Jeff Saharchuk and solos by Jordan Smith and Kevin-Thomas Walters. The Knights outshot the Steam 48-39. Kelowna 6 Nelson 2: Dale and linemate Zach Erhardt each had two goals and three helpers as the Chiefs beat the Neil Murdoch Division-leading Leafs (13-3-0) in Nelson.
Devin Sutton added a goal and two assists for the Chiefs, who led 1-0 and 3-1 at the period breaks and outshot the Leafs 39-23.
UPCOMING: The Coyotes look to keep the good times rolling as they host Princeton Tuesday at 7:35 p.m. at the Sun Bowl Arena.
On Friday, Osoyoos goes to North Okanagan, Creston Valley travels to Summerland in a 7:30 p.m. puck-drop, and Kelowna looks to extend their regulation streak as they welcome Fernie to the Rutland Arena in a 7 p.m. start.