The Beaver Valley Nitehawks are back in winning mode as they get set to take on the Grand Forks Border Bruins at the Beaver Valley Arena tonight.
The Hawks swept three road games on the weekend to extend their lead in the Neil Murdoch Division by seven points over Castlegar.
After a tough 6-5 win in Summerland and a penalty-filled 4-0 shutout in Kelowna, the Nitehawks capped off their road trip with a sweet 7-3 venge-fueled victory over the Castlegar Rebels in Castlegar on Sunday.
The Rebels had taken four in a row from the Nitehawks including a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 victory last week.
This time the Hawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to four-straight goals by Justin Niminiken in the first two periods. Niminiken celebrated a belated birthday with his first ever four-goal game and also added an assist for a five-point night. The 21-year-old has nearly doubled his point total from last year with 21 goals and 25 assists in 38 games this season.
The Rebels reduced the lead to 5-2 at the end of the second but Bryan Hinchcliffe and Ryan Edwards would score within a minute of each other to put the Hawks up 7-2 in the third.
The Hawks went 3 for 7 on the power play, in a game highlighted by the Hawks’ Josh Peters tilt with the Rebels Braden Horcoff in the second period. The two exchanged blows for close to a minute before a draw was called.
Mason Spear also picked up three assists and Mike Vlanich was solid in net, stopping 23 of 26 shots.
The Nitehawks take on the Grand Forks Border Bruins tonight at 7 p.m. at the Beaver Valley Arena.