The North Okanagan Knights faced the Kelowna Chiefs with a short bench Tuesday night after losing two veterans in a 5-4 loss to the host Summerland Steam Saturday night.
Mitchell Cobbett and Joey Guerra went on injured reserve so Knights’ head coach Bryant Perrier was down to nine healthy forwards for Tuesday’s tilt at Rutland Arena.
Cobbett, a 19-year-old Kelowna product, will likely be sidelined for a week with a nerve-ending injury. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound left winger has one goal and eight points in 15 games.
Guerra, an 18-year-old from Salmon Arm, has a suspected broken hand after taking a slash. The menacing 6-foot, 185-pound winger, has one goal and 62 penalty minutes in 14 games.
“This will be a good opportunity for some other guys to step up while getting more ice time,” said Perrier.
Brady Marzocco, with his team-high 10th and 11th goals of the season, Jason Shaigec (2nd) and Carl Man (2nd) scored for the Knights in Summerland. Marzocco converted shorthanded with 15 seconds left in the first period to put the Knights up 2-1.
“The guys played a real solid game,” said Perrier. “It was the best game we’ve played in their building in two years.”
Steven Fiust bagged his third and fourth snipes of the year for Summerland, who got singles from Calvin Rout (7th), Ben Nietrich-Scammel (6th) and Josh Pilon (8th).
Daniel Paul stopped 18 shots in the loss, falling to 2-5. Perrier planned to “go back to ‘The Tarantula’ Conor Webb’ for Tuesday’s game. Webb, a Vernon product, is 4-2.
Summerland improved to 10-4-0-2, good for second spot in the Okanagan/Shuwswap Conference. The Knights are fourth at 7-7-0-1.