Osoyoos Coyotes’ goaltender Brett Soles managed to stop Kelowna Chiefs’ Jonathan Lee (No. 6) during a penalty shot in KIJHL action from earlier this season. The Coyotes play in Kelowna Friday night before returning home to host the Chiefs on Saturday evening at the Sun Bowl Arena. (Richard McGuire file photo)
After suffering arguably their most embarrassing loss of the season on home ice last Wednesday evening, the Osoyoos Coyotes responded in fine fashion with a pair of weekend victories.
Against the hapless North Okanagan Knights, the Coyotes jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two periods of play and appeared to be in complete control, when things fell apart as the Knights scored three goals in just over two minutes to grab the lead.
The Coyotes never recovered and the Knights put the game out of reach with another goal with six minutes to play to earn the 4-2 come-from-behind victory.
Judd Repole had staked the Coyotes to a 1-0 lead with a power play goal in the final minute of the first period. Jackson Glimpel and Drew Carter added assists.
There wasn’t any further scoring until talented rookie Bobby LaRue extended the lead to 2-0 with a goal with just over two minutes to play in the second period.
The Knights got back into the game with a goal three minutes into the third period, then quickly added two more goals to shock the Coyotes and their loyal hometown fans.
The Knights put the game out of reach by extending the lead to 4-2 with a late goal.
The Coyotes responded with a very strong effort in Summerland on Friday evening.
The Coyotes broke open a close game by scoring four unanswered goals in the third period on their way to a convincing 7-2 victory.
Carter Shannon opened the scoring for the Coyotes four minutes into the game, with assists going to captain Rainer Glimpel and Cody Allen.
After the Steam tied the game a couple of minutes later, Hunter Johnson extended the lead to 2-1 for the Coyotes with a late goal in the first period.
The Steam tied things at 2-2 with a power play goal midway through the second period, before Allen scored a goal in the final minute to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Johnson started the third-period onslaught for the Coyotes as he scored his second goal of the game early in the third period.
Jackson Glimpel scored a power play goal a couple of minutes later to extend the lead to 5-2.
Judd Repole and Bobby LaRue both scored goals in the final 10 minutes to round out the scoring.
The Coyotes finished a busy stretch playing their third game in four days on home ice Saturday night against the Chase Heat.
They continued where they left off in Summerland as they scored four unanswered goals in the first period on their way to a relatively easy 4-1 victory.
Cody Allen scored five minutes into the game to give the Coyotes the lead and Jackson Glimpel scored 90 seconds later to extend the lead to 2-0.
Carter Robinson scored two goals, including one on the power play, in the final five minutes of the opening period to give the Coyotes a 4-0 lead.
Chase scored early in the second period to cut the deficit to 4-1, but there would be no further scoring the rest of the way.
The victory gives the Coyotes a record of 31-9-1-1, good enough for 64 points and a comfortable 10-point cushion over Summerland in their division.
The Coyotes also possess the second-best record in the entire Kootenay International Junior Hockey League as their 64 points are tied with Beaver Valley.
The Kimberly Dynamiters have 70 points to lead the entire league.
Coyotes’ captain Rainer Glimpel now leads the league in scoring with 24 goals and 43 assists in 42 games.
The Coyotes also possess the best defensive record of any team in the KIJHL as they have only allowed an average of two goals per game against through 42 games.
Heading into this weekend, the Coyotes only have 10 regular season games remaining and would have to put together an impressive streak to catch Kimberly for the regular season championship.
The Coyotes will play their next game Friday night in Rutland against the Kelowna Chiefs.
They will then host the Chiefs Saturday evening at the Sun Bowl Arena. Puck drop is 7:35 p.m.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
