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Beaver Valley Nitehawks dominate Border Bruins

Austin McKenzie nets three-point night in 4-1 Nitehawks win over Grand Forks
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Nitehawks forward Austin McKenzie scored twice in a 4-1 B.V. victory over the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Photo: Steve Piccolo

Fruitvale product Austin McKenzie scored twice and added an assist to lead the Beaver Valley Nitehawks to a 4-1 victory over the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Tuesday at the B.V. Arena.

B.V. dominated the opening frame outshooting the Bruins 16-7 through the first 20 minutes. McKenzie opened the scoring midway through the period, but Grand Forks fought back to tie it on a goal from Jameson Flint at 9:02 of the second.

B.V., however, kept the pressure on and Jesse Ihas netted his fifth of the season on the power play with 3:34 to play in period 2. Bruins Mason Buzzell was sent off for his second blow to the head infraction of the period, and Ihas converted a set up from Kaleb Percival and McKenzie for the 2-1 Hawks lead, and what proved to be the game winner.

Ihas and Buzzell went toe-to-toe six minutes into the final frame and were both sent off for fighting. But McKenzie tallied his 15th of the campaign at 11:34 for some insurance and Hunter Burgeson made the final 4-1 with assists to Joel Smyth and Nathan Dominici.

Beaver Valley outshot Grand Forks 44-17 and went 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Bruins were 0-for-4.

The win improves the Hawks record to 18-14-2-0, good for second place in the Neil Murdoch Division, behind Nelson at 23-9-0-1. The Leafs also played Tuesday, beating the Castlegar Rebels 4-2.

Beaver Valley returns to the Hawks Nest this weekend and hosts Castlegar on Saturday at 7 p.m. and the Golden Rockets on Sunday at 3 p.m.



Jim Bailey

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