The North Okanagan Knights seem to have the number of the top team in the KIJHL.
Playing the 18-3-1 Sicamous Eagles, the Knights, who snapped an 11 game losing streak to the Eagles last week (Nov. 18), bested them again on Saturday, Nov. 25 with a rollicking 5-4 victory.
In the first, Gage Parrell scored his seventh and eighth goal of the season five minutes apart to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.
The second period saw just one goal, from Eagles’ forward Alex Smith. That would set the stage for an electric final frame.
Four minutes into the period, Daniel Kroon nabbed his 12th on the power play to tie the game up. Carter Hartt quickly restored the one goal lead for North Okanagan, but that was swiftly followed by Devon Barclay to notch things at three.
Then, with less than four minutes to go in the game, Nolan Kelly and Colton Fleming scored 20 seconds apart to put the Knights up for good, 5-3.
A late Hayden Evans goal with 36 seconds left would threaten the Knights, but the game would end, 5-4.
Stalwart North Okanagan goalkeeper Michael Malinowski had another virtuoso performance between the pipes, with 39 saves on 43 shots for his seventh win of the year.
The Knights (5-13-0-3) will be in Revelstoke next to take on the Grizzlies on Friday, Dec. 01.
Before the Grizzlies game, the BCHC Prospects Game will take place, on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
The game, hosted in Kamloops, will see the top young players from the KIJHL battle the best from the Pacific Junior Hockey League, in front of WHL scouts and a number of post-secondary programs.
Tate O’Brien is the Knights representative. He has three points in 16 games. The Salmon Arm product plays an average of 18:52 a game, including 1:38 on the penalty kill. O’Brien also gets power-play time, averaging 1:21. He has a goal and an assist on the man-advantage.
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