The Beaver Valley Nitehawks struck for four unanswered goals in the the third period Tuesday to coast to a 6-2 victory over the Grand Forks Border Bruins, and virtually end any hopes of a Bruins’ post season.
The match was tied at 2-2 after two periods, until Dallas Calvin took an Archie McKinnon pass and beat Bruin goalie Kai McDonald to count the winner at 13:33 of the final frame.
The Bruins opened the scoring at 14:30 when Max Newton beat Hawks goalie Grayson Sharpe to go up 1-0. But Riley Brandt would net his first of three on the night, finishing a pretty passing play from Calvin and Taylor Stafford. Half way through the second period Brandt would strike again on a solid individual effort to make it 2-1 Hawks, but Ravinder Shokar converted a Drew Carter delivery on the door step to tie it heading into the final frame.
The Nitehawks peppered McDonald through two periods, firing 36 shots at the Bruin goal, while Grand Forks replied with 26 at Sharpe. The action continued in the third until the McDonald dam burst with Calvin’s goal.
Mitch Foyle would finish a pass from Dan Holland to make it 4-2, before Calvin netted his second of the night on the power play at 4:38 to give the Nitehawks a three-goal cushion. Brandt would net his hat trick with just 1:47 to go on a quick pass from Ryan Edwards.
With the three points, Calvin has posted 39 goals, 38 assists on the season to move into fourth spot in the KIJHL scoring race two points behind the Leafs’ Travis Wellman. Trail native Jamie Vlanich tops all scorers with 34-60-94.
With only six games left in the season, the Bruins are 10 points back of Spokane and would need to win at least five of those to even have a chance of making play-offs; a tough task since they have a home-and-home with Nelson this weekend. Following their series with the Bruins, the Leafs will play their final match against the Nitehawks at the B.V. Arena Feb. 22.
The Nitehawks outshot the Bruins 57-40, as Hawks goalie, Sharpe, was just that, in posting his first win since returning to the lineup Friday. The Nitehawks move to within two points of Nelson for the Neil Murdoch division lead, and will play a home-and-home with Castlegar this weekend, opening in Beaver Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday.