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KIJHL: Nitehawks flying high

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks extended their winning streak to five games on Monday beating the Grand Forks Border Bruins 4-1.

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks extended their winning streak to five games on Monday beating the Grand Forks Border Bruins 4-1 at the B.V. Arena and moving into second place, just two points back of the Neil Murdoch division leading Nelson Leafs.

The high-flying Hawks took three games in four days last week that included a decisive 6-1 victory over division rival the Spokane Braves Friday, and a 3-0 win at home on Saturday against the Columbia Valley Rockies before rolling over the Bruins Monday night.

Taylor Stafford netted the winner at 9:13 of the first period beating Bruins’ goalie Kiernan Matsuba on a setup from Sam Swanson and Tyler Hartman to put B.V. Up 2-0.

Hawks defenceman Reid Anderson opened the scoring on the power play two minutes into the opening period, blasting a shot by the Grand Forks goalie with assists going to Swanson and Spencer McLean.

Grand Forks would draw within one when Lucas Robinson’s knuckleball eluded Hawks goalie Drake Poirier to make it 2-1 with 6:04 to play in the first. However, that’s as close as the Bruins would get as Poirier shut the door, and  Swanson would get his third point of the game, taking a Hartman pass and wiring it by Matsuba to put the Hawks up 3-1 midway through the second.

McKoy Hauk would round out the scoring in the third period with Ross Armour collecting the assist.

After losing his first two games of the season, Poirier has won eight straight matches, and has been especially stingy in his last four games allowing just five goals on 143 shots for a .965 save percentage and a 1.25 GAA over that span.

The other half of the Hawks’ goaltending tandem, Carson Schamerhorn, hasn’t been too bad either. He picked up the shut out against the Rockies Saturday stopping 30 shots for his fourth win of the season, while Braydon Horcoff would net the winner on the power play at 14:04 of the second period.

Mitch Foyle added a goal and an assist on the night while Spencer McLean netted his fourth of the season for the Nitehawks.

In Friday’s match up in Spokane, Mitch Foyle netted what proved to be the winner at 6:24 of the first period to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead, as Poirier stopped 45 shots and was named the away player of the game. Armour had a three-point night with a goal and an assist while Foyle, the Hawks leading scorer, would finish the night with a goal and an assist, as would Andrew Miller, and Jared Broderson. Jacob Boyczuk also had a two-point night with two helpers.

The Hawks next home game will be a repeat of last year’s KIJHL final against the Kamloops Storm on  Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Hawks will host the Nelson Leafs at the Nest on Sunday at 1 p.m.