Josh Pilon (No. 10 black), a forward with the Summerland Steam, crashes the net as Osoyoos Coyotes’ goaltender Brett Soles covers up a loose puck while surrounded with defenceman during first period action Saturday night at the Sun Bowl Arena. The Steam upset the Coyotes 5-0 to win the opening game in the best-of-seven series. However, the Coyotes bounced back with a crucial 6-2 win Monday night. Games three and four were played in Summerland Tuesday and Wednesday, while game five will be played in Osoyoos Saturday evening. (Keith Lacey photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes have regained home-ice advantage in their second-round Kootenay International Hockey League (KIJHL) division final series against the Summerland Steam following an impressive 7-4 victory in Summerland Tuesday night.
After dropping the first game of the series on home ice Saturday night – by a lopsided score of 5-0 – the Coyotes rebounded with a strong performance on home ice Monday night and followed that up with the game three victory on Tuesday night.
Game three in the series takes place on Wednesday night in Summerland.
If the Coyotes manage to win game four, they will be able to wrap up the series and move on to the conference finals and league semi-finals for the third-consecutive year on home ice Saturday night.
Because of the annual Atom Fiesta hockey tournament, Saturday night’s game won’t start until 8:30 p.m.
The Coyotes fell behind early Tuesday night as the Steam scored a power play goal two minutes into the contest.
However, the Coyotes responded with a power play goal of their own as Daniel Stone scored, with an assist from Bobby LaRue, who was the hero of game two as he scored a natural hat trick in the second period in a 6-2 victory.
The Coyotes dominated the second period, scoring four times to break open a close contest.
Captain Rainer Glimpel scored only nine seconds into the second period to extend the Coyotes’ lead to 3-1.
Summerland managed to narrow the gap to 3-2 three minutes later, but the Coyotes broke the game open with three goals in just over three minutes midway through the period.
Hunter Johnson and Judd Repole scord six seconds apart, while Reid Wilson added a power play marker three minutes later to extend the Coyotes’ lead to 6-2 after two periods of play.
Summerland scored two goals four minutes apart early in the third period to make things interesting and narrow the gap to 6-4, however, Carter Shannon scored an empty net goal for the Coyotes with just over one minute remaining to put the game away.
If a sixth game is needed in this series, it would be played Sunday night in Summerland.
If a seventh-and-deciding game is needed, it would be played Monday night at the Sun Bowl Arena, starting at 7:30 p.m.
If the Coyotes win the series, they will face the winner of the series between the 100 Mile House Wranglers and Chase Heat. The Wranglers lead that series 3-1 and can wrap up the series Thursday night in Chase.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
