The Beaver Valley Nitehawks celebrated its home opener with a 5-1 win over the Kelowna Chiefs on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The Nitehawks victory, however, comes hard on the heals of a tough 8-2 loss to a potent Grand Forks Border Bruins team, their first of the new season on Friday.
The result, a physical match against Kelowna that saw B.V. give up 10 power play opportunities, but capitalized scoring three short-handed goals, including the game winner by Brady Magarrell 1:22 into the second period.
With the win, the Nitehawks record goes to 3-1, good for a tie for second in the Neil Murdoch Division, and just a point behind the Border Bruins who lost 2-1 in overtime to the Revelstoke Grizzlies on Saturday.
Brock Robertson scored his first as a Nitehawk at 2:44 of the first period, as the Nitehawks dominated early outshooting the Chiefs 17-12 in the opening frame.
After Magarrell made it 2-0, Trail product Owen Dickson tallied his first of the campaign as well for a 3-0 B.V. lead.
The Chiefs battled in the second, and Luke Rishaug beat Nitehawks veteran goalie Connor Stojan to cut the lead to 3-1at 11:22.
However, a penalty to Nitehawks forward Roan Crowe, proved beneficial for the home team. Hunter Hansen set up Connor Drake, who wired one past Chiefs goalie Max Fowle for a shorthanded goal and a 4-1 lead after two periods.
Midway through the final frame, Hansen tallied his first of the season while on the penalty kill for the 5-1 final.
Stojan made 35 saves, while Fowle stopped 36 in the Kelowna net. The Nitehawks were 0-for-4 on the power play, and 10-10 on the penalty kill.
On Friday, the Nitehawks travelled to Grand Forks for a tilt against their Neil Murdoch Division rival Border Bruins.
Grand Forks came flying out of the gate, and jumped out to a 4-0 first period lead on goals from Nate Tillmanns, Justin Mol, Tyler Burke, and Reid Schechtel.
The home team Bruins outshot the Nitehawks 27-8 in the first period.
B.V. got on the board at 11:34 when Crowe beat Bruins goalie Matthew Dovichak on the power play. But Mol scored his second of the game with 1:16 left in the middle frame for a 5-1 lead.
Hawks forward Boris Hristov tallied his second of the season midway through the final frame to make it 5-2. But two goals from Bruins forward Jace Koole, and a single from veteran forward Levi Astill brought an end to the lopsided and no doubt satisfying victory.
Last season the Nitehawks beat the Border Bruins in six games in the Neil Murdoch Division final.
Grand Forks outshot B.V. 49-26 and went 1-for-5 on the power play, and 5-for-5 on the PK.
B.V. is back in action against the Border Bruins in Grand Forks on Friday, Oct. 4 and will travel to Fernie on Saturday for a tilt against the Ghostriders.
The Nitehawks will return home for a Tuesday night match up versus the Spokane Braves. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
