The Beaver Valley Nitehawks have been anything but automatic on the road this year, so a successful swing through the East Kootenay region was just what the Hawks needed.
Beaver Valley downed the Eddie Mountain division’s basement dwelling Golden Rockets 6-1 Friday night then defeated Columbia Valley Rockies 4-1 on Saturday.
“We haven’t played great on the road all year, we’ve got to play better, so this was an opportunity for our team to get a lot better,” said coach Terry Jones last week.
Against the Rockies Saturday, Kyle Hope scored what proved to be the winner at 15:18 of the second period, converting a Michael Bell set up to make it 2-0 Hawks.
The Hawks special-teams unit did their job, particularly on the penalty kill, shutting down the Rockies in all eight opportunities. The Hawks own the second best PK rating in the KIJHL with an 83.13 per cent success.
Ryan Edwards opened the scoring at 11:01 of the first period blasting a Fraser Stang pass by Rockies goalie Stewart Pratt. After B.V. went up 2-0, Columbia Valley would narrow the difference to one on a Jerome Thorne goal as the home team actually outshot the Hawks 9-6 in the period.
But the Hawks would ice it in the third with Edwards scoring his second of the night and 14th of the season on the power play at 16:21. A minute later Walker Sidoni would blast a point shot by Pratt for his first goal of the season as the Hawks Grayson Sharpe shut the door in the final period stopping 25 of 26 shots on the night for the victory.
In Friday’s game versus the Rockets, the unheralded trio of Lyle Frank, Nathan Pickett, and Drayton Brennan each put up three points on the night with Frank scoring twice, including the winning goal, and adding an assist. Brennan netted a single and two helpers, while Pickett had three assists on the night.
Meanwhile, Brett Clark was stellar in goal for B.V. stopping 36 of 37 shots, as Taylor Stafford, Kyle Hope, and Sheldon Hubbard rounded out the scoring for the Nitehawks.
The wins also help the Nitehawks gain ground on the Nelson Leafs who lost their first game in regulation at home on Friday in a 4-2 setback to the North Okanagan Knights.
The Hawks sit eight points back of the Murdoch division leading Leafs who have 46 points on the season.
Beaver Valley is in action on the road Friday and Saturday in Spokane and Kimberley before returning home for a Sunday afternoon matchup against Grand Forks at 1 p.m.