The Summerland Steam had lots to celebrate in the second period Friday as they scored three goals on top of the one they scored just 20 seconds into the game. The Coyotes bounced back in the third period, but the game ended 4-3 for Summerland. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes shut out the Princeton Posse twice in the past week, but they failed to complete a comeback when their game with the Summerland Steam got off to a rocky start.
At a Sunday afternoon 6-0 victory in Oliver, rookie Coyote goalie Liam Aitken earned his sixth shutout in 13 games played this season.
This follows a 3-0 shutout last Wednesday in Princeton by fellow goalie Adam Jones.
The Coyotes seem to be developing a track record of shutting out bottom-place Princeton. In December they shut out the struggling Posse by scores of 3-0 and 5-0.
But the Yotes had a tougher time on home ice Friday when they faced their archrivals, the Summerland Steam and got off to a bad start.
The Steam scored just 20 seconds into the game. And then it got worse.
The Coyotes took some bad penalties, had some bad luck and by the end of the second period they were down 4-0.
Only in the third period did the Coyotes get their mojo back, scoring three unanswered goals and outshooting the Steam 18-6, but by then it was too late.
The second-place Steam took the game 4-3, narrowing the Coyotes’ lead over them in the Okanagan Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League to seven points.
The national anthem was barely over when Wyatt Gale of the Steam put the puck past Coyote goalie Adam Jones.
The Coyotes didn’t play badly in the rest of the first period, but neither team could connect.
The Coyotes started the second period with a power play, but they still couldn’t score.
Then, less than two minutes into the period, Coyote Jackson Glimpel took a tripping penalty and five seconds later Connor Onstein took a slashing penalty. A few seconds later, Summerland was back at full strength and the Coyotes had two in the penalty box.
Mere seconds after that, Riley Pettitt of the Steam scored his team’s second goal. This set the momentum for the rest of the period and Summerland outplayed the home team.
Later in the period, the Coyotes let down their guard and Pettitt swooped in unobstructed to score an encore.
Then, with Ryan Roseboom off for slashing, Ben Deitrich-Scammel made it 4-0 for the Steam at the end of the second period.
Tempers flared, and in the final minute of the period, Calvin Rout of the Steam and Judd Repole of the Coyotes had it out and earned 10-minute misconducts.
Luck for the Coyotes changed when less than four minutes into the third period, Hunter Johnson scored on a power play to put the Yotes on the scoreboard. Reid Wilson and Glimpel got assists.
Three minutes later, Roseboom scored, assisted by Bell.
The Coyotes pulled Adams in the dying minutes for an extra attacker and with just 47 seconds remaining in the period, Austin Steger scored to narrow the gap to 4-3.
Onstein and Roseboom got the assists.
Any hopes of a tying goal in the final seconds went out the window when Repole took a boarding penalty with 21 seconds remaining.
The Coyotes did better against the Posse last Wednesday in Princeton.
Roseboom opened the scoring more than half way through the first period, with Repole and Bell getting the assists.
There was no scoring in the second period, and Princeton actually outshot the Coyotes 11-10, the only period where shots on goal were relatively matched.
It was the potent Coyote power play that sealed the fate of the Posse in the third period.
Bell scored a power play goal in the first minute of that period, assisted by Repole and Steger.
Four minutes later, Steger scored a second power play goal, assisted by Bell and Roseboom, making the final score 3-0 for Osoyoos.
When the Coyotes faced the Posse again Sunday in Oliver, it was the potent Osoyoos power play that sealed the fate of Princeton.
The Coyotes connected five times out of eight Princeton penalties. The Posse failed to score on any of their four power plays.
Daniel Stone opened the scoring early in the first period on a power play with Bell and Steger getting the assists.
Halfway through the first period, Glimpel scored the only Coyote goal that wasn’t on a power play. Colton Rhodes and Austin Cleaver assisted.
Four minutes from the end of the period, Bell made it 3-0 with Repole and Steger assisting.
Glimpel scored the only goal of the second period, once again assisted by Rhodes and Cleaver.
Midway through the third period, Glimpel made it a hat trick, assisted by Bryson Cecconi and Rhodes.
The final blow to Princeton came late in the period when Reid Wilson scored, assisted by Cecconi and Glimpel, giving Glimpel his fourth point of the night.
The Coyotes travel to Kelowna this Friday before hosting the Kamloops Storm at the Sun Bowl Arena on Saturday.
The Coyotes, who are now in first place in the Okanagan Division with 57 points, only have 11 more games in the regular season.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Riley Pettit of the Summerland Steam took an unobstructed shot from close up to score his team’s third goal Friday night. The Coyotes had a terrible second period. Though they bounced back in the third period, it wasn’t enough to win. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes and Summerland Steam came to blows several times during Friday night’s game. In this incident in the final minute of the second period, Judd Repole of the Coyotes and Calvin Rout of the Steam both took 10-minute misconducts and Colton Rhodes took a minor for slashing. (Richard McGuire photo)
