Osoyoos Coyotes forward Rory Neary came very close to scoring a tie breaker in the final minute of a game against the Kelowna Chiefs in December in this file photo. Neary missed, but the Coyotes won that game 5-4 in the second period of overtime. The Coyotes will face the Chiefs Friday night in Kelowna before returning home Saturday evening to face the North Okanagan Knights in an important contest as the Knights are only a few points back of the Coyotes in the battle for third and fourth place in the Okanagan Division. (File photo Richard McGuire)
The Osoyoos Coyotes travelled a long way to score only a single goal as their offence dried up during a pair of road losses to 100 Mile House and league-leading Kamloops this past weekend.
The only good news is the Coyotes managed to eke out a wild and wonderful 6-5 victory over the host Grand Forks Border Bruins in Grand Forks last Wednesday evening.
The Coyotes, who have now lost four of its past five games, now have little chance of catching Kelowna Chiefs for first place in the Okanagan Division as they trail the Chiefs by 10 points with only nine regular season games remaining (including Wednesday night’s road game in Sicamous).
The Coyotes are also going to have to play some exceptional hockey down the stretch if the team has any aspirations of catching the red-hot Summerland Steam for second place in the division.
The Coyotes trail Summerland by seven points and hold a slim four-point lead over the North Okanagan Knights for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Summerland, who is one of the hottest teams in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, only trails Kelowna by three points in the battle for first place.
If the Coyotes remain in third place, they would face the team that finishes second in their division in the opening round of the playoffs.
In Sunday’s game against Kamloops, which now sports the best record in the KIJHL with only seven losses in 43 games, the hometown Storm scored one minute in the game, led 3-0 after 15 minutes and were never threatened.
Brock Anderson scored the only goal for the Coyotes late in the first period to cut the lead to 3-1.
Kamloops scored two unanswered goals in the second period and the only goal in the final frame to romp to the 6-1 victory.
Things got a little wild in the third period as Anderson got into a scrap with Brett Watkinson with seven minutes remaining and received a penalty for goaltender interference, five minutes for fighting and three game misconducts.
After a long road trip to 100 Mile House, the Coyotes didn’t generate much offense at all and allow the hometown Wranglers to score one goal in each period and waltz to a 3-0 victory before a large crowd of almost 600 fans.
In the exciting win over Grand Forks, the two teams battled back and forth all night, but the Coyotes managed to take the victory by scoring two goals in five minutes midway through the third period.
Troy Maclise opened the scoring for the Coyotes in the first period before Grand Forks tied it at 1-1 late in the frame.
Cam Dobransky, Anderson and captain Colin Chmelka scored goals for the Coyotes in the second period as the game was tied at 4-4 after 40 minutes.
After Grand Forks scored early in the third period to take the lead, Aaron Azevedo tied it up and Colten Braid scored the eventual game winner with 10 minutes remaining to give the Coyotes the victory.
The Coyotes fired 53 shots on net, while the Border Bruins fired 50 in a highly entertaining contest.
This was another contest which featured a steady stream of players to the penalty box.
The Coyotes return to the ice Friday night in Kelowna as they battle the Chiefs, before returning home on Saturday evening against the North Okanagan Knights. Game time at the Sun Bowl Arena is 7:35 p.m.
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