The Beaver Valley Nitehawks pushed the Grand Forks Border Bruins to the brink of elimination on Tuesday with a 4-1 victory in Grand Forks.
Kyle Hope scored twice and added an assist to pace the Hawks to a 3-0 series lead over the Border Bruins. The Fruitvale native opened the scoring on the power play with assists going to Jake Yuris and Sam Swanson at 9:41 of the first period.
The Hawks took the lead into the second, outshooting Grand Forks 14-11 in the opening frame, but the Bruins responded when Shayne Pluto beat Tallon Kramer in close at 4:21 of the second. However, the Hawks took the lead for good with 49 seconds to play in the period, when Tyler Hartman teed up the winner to give B.V. A 2-1 advantage with helpers going to Swanson and Hope. The Hawks held the Border Bruins to just five shots in the period, while firing 10 at Bruins goalie Anthony Galliart.
The Nitehawks added two more in the third. Hope netted the insurance marker midway through the final frame, and McKoy Hauk wired one past Galliart on a Lyle Frank and Swanson set up to close out the scoring at the 5:48 mark.
The Hawks outshot Grand Forks 36-24, going 1-for-4 on the power play while the Bruins went 0-for-4. Hope and Swanson did most of the damage with three-point nights, while Hartman pitched in with a goal and an assist.
In the Eddie Murdoch series, the Kimberley Dynamiters took a 3-0 stranglehold on the series defeating the Creston Valley Thundercats 5-2 on Tuesday in Creston. In the Okanagan-Shuswap Conference the Osoyoos Coyotes took a 2-1 series lead over the Summerland Steam with a 7-4 victory, while the 100-Mile House Wranglers beat the Chase Heat 3-2 to take a 3-1 series advantage.
The Hawks looked to wrap up the KIJHL’s Neil Murdoch division title in Game 4 on Wednesday night but scores were unavailable at press time.