The Osoyoos Coyotes and the North Okanagan Knights, pictured in a recent Osoyoos game, played to a 4-4 tie in Armstrong Friday night. Unless Princeton beats the Knights tonight, the Coyotes and Knights will face each other in the first round of the playoffs. (Richard McGuire file photo)
A 4-4 tie score in Friday night’s hockey between the Osoyoos Coyotes and the North Okanagan Knights increases the likelihood that those two teams will face each other in the playoffs.
North Okanagan is now one point ahead of Princeton as those two teams battle for a fourth-place finish, which would give one of them a chance to face Osoyoos in the first round of the playoffs.
Princeton must win their last game of the season tonight (Saturday) on home ice against the Knights to have any hope of a playoff spot.
But even if the Posse wins tonight, the Knights have one game in hand, a game against Summerland on Tuesday to make up for a Dec. 2 game that was cancelled due to a power failure.
For Princeton to make the playoffs, they must beat the Knights tonight and Summerland must beat the Knights on Tuesday.
The Coyotes play their last regular season game against the Kelowna Chiefs tonight at the Sun Bowl, but that game won’t make any difference to the final standings.
No matter what the outcome tonight, the Coyotes finish in first place and the Chiefs finish third. This means Kelowna plays second-place Summerland in their opening round.
Friday’s game saw the Knights score first and then the Coyotes would tie the game, a pattern that continued throughout the evening.
The game went into 10 minutes of overtime, but with neither team scoring, it was declared a tie.
Austin Cleaver had a good game for the Coyotes, scoring two goals and getting one assist. Cleaver’s second goal was scored on a power play with just 42 seconds left in the third period.
Reid Wilson scored the first Coyote goal late in the first period and he also assisted on Cleaver’s first goal in the second period.
The other Coyote goal was scored by Bryson Cecconi.
Other assists went to Austin Steger, Daniel Stone, Jackson Glimpel, Ryan Allen, Connor Onstein and Cody Allen.
The game between the Coyotes and the Chiefs starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Sun Bowl Arena. The game between North Okanagan and Princeton starts at 7 p.m. at Princeton and District Arena.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
