In what is a foreshadowing of their upcoming first-round playoff matchup, the North Okanagan Knights bested the Osoyoos Coyotes, 3-2, in their final regular season game of the KIJHL season on Saturday, Feb. 17.
The Knights, who were trounced 5-0 by the Princeton Posse on Friday night, rebounded admirably against Osoyoos.
Coyotes’ Logan Messer scored first on the power play, but Nolan Kelly quickly tied the game up a minute later for the Knights. In the second, Osoyoos’ power play struck again, this time from Dexter Materi.
The third period saw two early Knights goals, from Devin Jameson and Gage Parrell, to stake a 3-2 lead. Goaltender Josh Hager shut the door the rest of the way, as he parried away 35 shots for his seventh win of the season.
The Knights finished the season with a 18-20-2-4 record for 42 points, second overall in the Bill Ohlhausen Division. They will play Osoyoos in the first round of the playoffs as the Coyotes (16-24-4-0) finished in third place, on 36 points.
Leading the way, statistically on the year, was Parrell with 15 goals and 32 assists for 47 points.
Cash Anderson (36), Kelly (34), Jameson (32), and Colton Fleming (30) all reached the 30-point plateau on the year. The goaltending tandem of Michael Malinowski and Hager was nearly 50/50, with Malinowski sporting an 11-9 record to Hager’s 7-7-2 mark.
The Coyotes/Knights matchup is a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff series, as North Okanagan bested Osoyoos in five games before they fell to Princeton in the second round.
The Knights begin their 2023-24 playoff campaign at home in the Nor-Val Centre for games one and two on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24. The seven game series shifts to Osoyoos on Monday, Feb. 26. More information can be found at northokanaganknights.com.
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