Securing an extra point helped the North Okanagan Knights create a second-place logjam in the Kootenay International Hockey League’s Bill Ohlhausen Division.
Shootout goals from Tag Bryson and Kevin-Thomas Walters lifted the Knights to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Summerland Steam Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Nor-Val Sports Centre in Armstrong.
The victory, combined with the Osoyoos Coyotes’ 4-2 home-ice loss to the Revelstoke Grizzlies, leaves the Knights, Steams and Osoyoos tied for second place in the division with 25 points each.
All three teams trail the Princeton Posse by 10 points in the division. The Posse fell 4-3 in overtime to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks in Fruitvale Saturday.
Jacob Raush opened the scoring for Summerland with a shorthanded goal at 15:03 of the opening period. The lead stayed until late in the second when Walters scored his 11th of the year, unassisted, at 18:46 for the Knights.
Walters gave the home team a 2-1 advantage at 7:27 of the third, but the lead lasted only 12 seconds before Sam Dixon scored unassisted for the Steam.
Tristan Weill opened the shootout with a goal for Summerland, but teammates Connor Nicolay and Ryan Donovan were stopped by North Okanagan goalie Josh Hager.
Ben Lewis made 49 saves in regulation and overtime for Summerland. Hager finished with 32 stops for the Knights.
The Knights are 12-10-1-0 on the year and have a game in hand on the Steam (10-9-2-3). Osoyoos (11-7-3-0) have two games in hand on North Okanagan and three on Summerland.
North Okanagan began the weekend with a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win against the visiting Grizzlies Friday, Dec. 2. Revelstoke, the defending KIJHL champs, own the league’s best record at 16-1-3-3.
The Coyotes visit Summerland Tuesday, Dec. 6, while North Okanagan travels to Princeton Wednesday, Dec. 7.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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