Nolan Zweep (right) picked up a loose puck in front of Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu and flipped it into the net. This was the third Coyote goal in the team’s 4-3 victory over Kamloops on Friday evening. It was rookie Zweep’s first goal for the Coyotes. Colin Bell (second from right) picked up an assist along with Jackson Glimpel. (Richard McGuire photo)
Somewhere late in the second period of Friday night’s home game against the Kamloops Storm, the Osoyoos Coyotes lost their magic.
From that point onward, the Coyotes didn’t score a goal in more than four periods of hockey, while allowing eight goals by opposing teams.
Thanks to a quick burst of three second-period goals less than five minutes apart, the Coyotes managed to squeeze out a 4-3 win over the Kamloops Storm on Friday evening at the Sun Bowl Arena.
However, the following night they were humbled 5-0 at the hands of the fourth-place Kelowna Chiefs at the Rutland Arena.
Perhaps the turning point in Friday’s fortunate win was a delay-the-game penalty the Coyotes took with just over two minutes remaining in the second period when the home team was leading 4-0.
Four seconds later Kamloops scored a power play goal and the Coyotes’ luck changed.
Kamloops came back with two more goals in the third period and after pulling their goalie for an extra attacker in the final minute, they came close to tying the game a couple of times.
While Kelowna’s lopsided 5-0 win over the Coyotes on Saturday looks bad, a big factor was probably the incredible goaltending by the Chiefs’ Chris Turner.
Turner stopped all 45 shots by the Coyotes to gain the shutout compared with the 27 shots the Chiefs took against Osoyoos.
By contrast, the usually solid Coyotes’ goalie Lawrence Langan allowed four goals in 23 shots before being replaced early in the third period by backup goalie Brandon Locket.
In Friday’s game against Kamloops, both teams were scoreless after the first period.
Tyler Holz opened the scoring early in the second period.
Troy Maclise managed to catch Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu out of position as he fired a shot into the upper right corner of the net on a power play to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, rookie Nolan Zweep spun a loose puck into the net to score his first goal for the Coyotes.
Just over two minutes later, rookie Colin Bell scored his fourth goal of the season to make the game 4-0.
By this point, the Storm had pulled goalie Sandhu in favour of backup goalie Bailey De Palma.
Saturday’s game also saw a scoreless first period.
Effective penalty killing highlighted the opening 20 minutes of action. Despite a high number of penalties, neither team scored with the man advantage.
The Chiefs took a 2-0 lead in the second period and added two more goals in the first half of the third.
The Chiefs scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period to round out the shutout for the home team.
The win and loss for the Coyotes leave them firmly in first place in the Okanagan Division of the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference.
Their status as league leaders, however, is now threatened as the Nelson Leafs trail by only a single point, with a couple other teams also closing the gap.
The Coyotes host the Summerland Steam Wednesday night at the Sun Bowl before going on to Kimberley on Friday night to play the Dynamiters.
They then travel to Fernie on Saturday, Nov. 1 and on to Creston for an afternoon game on Sunday.
With a busy four-game schedule this week, there will be several chances for the Coyotes to regain their magic.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Coyote Rory Neary celebrates after Tyler Holz scored the first goal in Friday evening’s 4-3 victory over Kamloops. Neary and Troy Maclise picked up assists. (Richard McGuire photo)
Troy Maclise (right) managed to get the puck when Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu was caught out of position. A second later Maclise scored the Coyotes’ second goal in their 4-3 victory over Kamloops on Friday evening. (Richard McGuire photo)
Troy Maclise (right) managed to get the puck when Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu was caught out of position. A second later Maclise scored the Coyotes’ second goal in their 4-3 victory over Kamloops on Friday evening. (Richard McGuire photo)
Troy Maclise (right) managed to get the puck when Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu was caught out of position. A second later Maclise scored the Coyotes’ second goal in their 4-3 victory over Kamloops on Friday evening. (Richard McGuire photo)
Nolan Zweep (centre) picked up a loose puck in front of Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu and flipped it into the net. This was the third Coyote goal in the team’s 4-3 victory over Kamloops on Friday evening. It was rookie Zweep’s first goal for the Coyotes. (Richard McGuire photo)
Nolan Zweep (right) picked up a loose puck in front of Kamloops goalie Jason Sandhu and flipped it into the net. This was the third Coyote goal in the team’s 4-3 victory over Kamloops on Friday evening. It was rookie Zweep’s first goal for the Coyotes. (Richard McGuire photo)
Colin Bell (behind at left) flips the puck through legs to score the Coyotes’ fourth goal against Kamloops Friday evening. In the foreground is Colten Braid. (Richard McGuire photo)
Colin Bell (second from left) celebrates as he scores the Coyotes’ fourth goal in the team’s 4-3 victory over Kamloops Friday evening. By this time Kamloops had replaced goalie Jason Sandhu with backup Bailey De Palma. Also pictured is Coyote Colten Braid. (Richard McGuire photo)
