After allowing four straight goals in the first period of Friday night’s game, it was beginning to look like the North Okanagan Knights couldn’t handle the Heat.
But after the Chase Heat’s hot start, the Knights put up a valiant effort, scoring one goal in the second period and four unanswered in the third to take the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League matchup 5-4 at Armstrong’s Nor-Val Centre.
The back-and-forth affair started with a goal by Chase’s Braeden Huth, his 12th of the season within the first two minutes of the game. Less than two minutes later, Josh David scored his fifth of the campaign to make it 2-0 Heat.
The Heat then fired up their power play, scoring both times they had the man advantage in the first, courtesy of Andrew Morris and Jalen Davidson, who scored about 12 minutes apart.
Having dug themselves a significant hole, the Knights needed to wake up in the second period, and they did. Carter Hartt scored near the nine minute mark to chip away at the Heat lead, and his team out-shot the Heat 13-5 in the period.
It was all Knights in the third, starting with a goal from Cash Anderson that came just six seconds into a power play after Easton Zenko was called for interference.
That made it 4-2 Heat and, in virtually a blink of an eye, the Knights took control of the game.
In a span of just 47 seconds, the Knights scored a power play goal off the stick of Carter Will, an even strength goal courtesy of Adam Valach, and another power play goal from Nolan Kelly, cataputling the team to a 5-4 lead.
The Knights held the Heat to just four shots in the final frame, killing off a Nate Hughes roughing minor with four minutes to go and securing the come-from-behind victory.
With the win, the Knights inched closer to .500 and sit comfortably in second place in the Bill Ohlhausen Division, six points ahead of the Osoyoos Coyotes and a whopping 25 points behind the Princeton Posse, who are tied with the Revelstoke Grizzlies atop the league.
The Heat remain in the basement of the Doug Birks Division with 25 points in 35 games played.
The Knights are back in action Saturday, Feb. 3, against the Posse with the puck to drop at 7:15 p.m. in Armstrong. The Heat are also in action Saturday, taking on the Coyotes at home at 7 p.m.
READ MORE: NHL players heading back to the Olympics after 12-year absence
READ MORE: Consistency for Lindholm, fresh start for Kuzemenko goals of NHL trade