The Kelowna Chiefs completed a weekend doubleheader sweep of the North Okanagan Knights in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League action Saturday, Jan. 22, at Armstrong’s Nor-Val Sports Centre with a 7-3 victory.
The Chiefs won 4-3 at home in Rutland Friday, Jan. 21.
After Ty McNaughton opened the scoring Saturday for the Knights, Kelowna would score seven of the next eight goals, including four in the first 14 minutes of the second period.
James Hooton scored twice for the Chiefs while singles went to former Knight Owen Spannier, Levi Lamotte, Chase Eising, Jaden Lohn and Spencer Horning.
Kyle Bax and Adam Mueller had powerplay goals for North Okanagan.
Frederick Larochelle made 29 saves in goal for the win while Jake Dubinsky stopped 40 in a losing effort.
Nick Morin scored the winner Friday for the Chiefs at the 6:30 mark of the third period. The goal game exactly one minute after McNaughton had tied the contest at 3-3 for North Okanagan.
Mueller and Devin Jameson staked the Knights to a 2-0 first-period lead, but the Chiefs took a 3-2 lead into the final frame with unanswered second-period markers from Alex Edwards, Ty Marchant and Lamotte.
Gabriel Murrells-Allway made 51 saves for North Okanagan while Reed Mclennan stopped 26 shots for Kelowna.
The Chiefs (18-11-2-0) maintain a two-point lead over the third-place Summerland Steam (17-10-1-1) in the Bill Ohlhausen Division, led by the league-best Osoyoos Coyotes at 26-2-2-3. The Steam hold two games in hand on Kelowna.
The losses keep North Okanagan (8-16-4-2) in fourth place, now only one point ahead of fifth-place Princeton as the Posse whipped Summerland 7-3 Sunday afternoon at home.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Monday, Jan. 24, at 11 a.m. to include Princeton-Summerland result
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