The Kelowna Chiefs scored early and often in bashing the Osoyoos Coyotes in the opening game of their first-round KIJHL playoff series on Tuesday night.
Brody Dale and Lane Paddison each tallied hat tricks, with Ryan Stack scoring twice, as Kelowna posted a 10-1 victory at Rutland Arena. Kayson Gallant and Juanre Naude also scored for the Chiefs, who led 3-0 after the first period and 6-1 after 40 minutes.
Milo Labonte scored the Coyotes’ lone goal, midway through the second to make it 5-1. Osoyoos was outshot 52-33.
Daniel Paul started for the Coyotes, stopping 32 of 42 shots, with Bailey Monteith going 10-for-10 in relief. Braeden Mitchell turned aside 33 of 34 shots for the Chiefs.
Kelowna was an impressive 5-for-9 on the power play while Osoyoos was 0-for-5. The attendance was 336.
The best-of-seven series resumes tonight, 7 p.m. at Rutland Arena, with Game 2. Games 3 and 4 will take place Friday and Saturday, respectively, in Osoyoos.
In other opening-series playoff action on Tuesday night, the Revelstoke Grizzlies mauled the Kamloops Storm 10-2, the Princeton Posse edged the Summerland Steam 7-6 in overtime, and the 100 Mile House Wranglers clipped the Sicamous Eagles 3-1.
Princeton 7, Summerland 6 (OT)
At Summerland, Azam Jiwa netted the winner at 12:36 of overtime as the Posse took a 1-0 series lead over the Steam.
Terrance Josephson, with two goals, Ethan Schmor, Aubrey Macleod, Trevor Gulenchyn and Colby Rhodes also scored for Princeton, which trailed 2-1 after the first period but led 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Cory Loring, Liam McLaren, Linden Gove, Cody Swan, Lane French and Mitchell Gove replied for Summerland, which trailed 5-3 early in the third, but scored three times in the third to take a 6-5 lead. However, with 5:52 left in the period, Josephson scored his second of the night to level the score.
Jaysen MacLean stopped 24 of 30 shots for Princeton. For Summerland, starter Jared Breitkreuz stopped 4 of 8 shots, with Eric Scherger going 12-for-15 in relief.
The Posse were 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Steam were 2-for-5. The attendance was 207.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., with Games 3 and 4 taking place in Princeton on Friday and Saturday.