The Beaver Valley Nitehawks continued their winning ways, sweeping their home games this weekend to sit comfortably atop the Neil Murdoch Division with 18 points.
The Nitehawks improved their record to 8-1-0-2 and remain undefeated at home after a 5-2 victory over the Columbia Valley Rockies on Friday, and a 4-2 win over the Chase Heat Saturday at the Hawks Nest.
In a heated and physical, end-to-end matchup against the Heat, the teams traded 90 shots and 96 minutes in penalties in a well-earned Nitehawks victory.
Special teams proved key for the Hawks, as forward Dayton Nelson scored the game winner, tallying a shorthanded goal from Nathan Ingram and Bradley Ross with 5:56 remaining in the second period to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.
Chase’s Garrick Ward put the visitors up 1-0 at 15:16 of the first period, but Simon Nemethy scored his fourth of the campaign on a power play at 5:49 to tie it at one.
Jared Stocks made it 2-1 with another power-play marker at the 16:50 mark of the middle frame before Nelson netted the eventual winner.
Both goalies were solid in the respective nets, particularly the Hawks Hunter Young who stopped 32 of 33 shots through two periods.
Kevin Duguid added an insurance marker to give B.V. a 4-1 lead at 15:44, before the Heats’ Gavin Mattey scored in the dying seconds to make the final 4-2.
The Heat outshot B.V. 46-44 with Young, a former Nelson Leafs netminder, earning his second win for B.V.
On Friday, Quaid Anderson and Ross netted a goal and an assist each to lead the Nitehawks to a 5-2 victory over the Rockies.
Nemethy, Stocks and Nelson added the other markers for B.V. while Tristan Lambert and Mason Robinson replied for C.V.
Beaver Valley outshot the Rockies 29-25 with Saran Virdee earning the win in the Hawks goal.
The Nitehawks host the Golden Rockets and Fernie Ghostriders on Friday and Saturday at the B.V. Arena with the puck drop at 7 p.m.