A round-up of junior hockey teams in the Okanagan.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Kelowna, Pavel Novak notched a natural hat trick for the Rockets in a romp over the visiting Cougars on Friday night.
Novak opened the scoring midway through the first period, at 8:09, then scored at 7:12 and 11:25 of the second period to give Kelowna a 3-0 lead.
Leif Mattson, Alex Swetlikoff and Nolan Foote also scored for Kelowna (9-4-1-1), which led 1-0 and 5-1 at the period breaks.
Matej Toman, at 15:01 of the second to make it 3-1, and Reid Perepeluk, who closed out the scoring at 9:22 of the third, replied for Prince George (4-10-0-1).
Roman Basran stopped 28 of 30 shots for the Rockets, with Jacob Herman turning aside 27 of 33 shots for the Cougars.
Kelowna was 3-for-4 on the power play while Prince George was 0-for-5.
The win vaulted Kelowna into first place in B.C. Division standings. The Rockets have 20 points, two more than second-place Kamloops (9-5-0-0), though the Blazers have a game in hand. Vancouver (7-8-1-0) is third with 15 points, while Victoria (6-6-1-0) is fourth with 13. Prince George is last with nine.
The Rockets’ next game is Wednesday, at home to Victoria.
The Blazers, who haven’t played since last Saturday, visit Everett (9-4-0-0) on Saturday night.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Coquitlam, Clay Stevenson was perfect between the pipes as the Express blanked the visiting Warriors on Friday night.
Stevenson stopped all 24 shots he faced, with Massimo Rizzo tallying a goal and assist for Coquitlam (16-4-0-0). Joshua Wildauer, Tyler Schleppe and Noad De La Durantaye also scored for the winners.
For West Kelowna (4-13-3-2), starting goalie Brock Baier stopped 28 of 32 shots in 48 minutes of action, with Johnny Derrick going 7-for-7 in relief over the final 11:36.
The Express were 2-for-6 on the power play while the Warriors were 0-for-5.
At Salmon Arm, a scoreless third period capped a back-and-forth match which saw the Smoke Eaters build up a trio of two-goal leads, only to have the Silverbacks close the gap each time and make a game of it.
Tyler Ghirardosi, with two goals, Philippe Lapointe, Kent Johnson and Walker Erickson scored for Trail (13-6-2-0), which led 3-1 and 5-4 at the period breaks.
Ghirardosi’s second of the night at 13:15 of the second made it 4-2, with Erickson making it 5-3 at 16:39.
For Salmon Arm (15-4-1-0), Domenic Garozzo opened the scoring at 5:10 of the first. In the second, Daniel Rybarik made it 3-2 at 9:02 with Drew Bennett scoring at 13:41 to make it 4-3, then at 17:52 to make it 5-4.
At Surrey, the Vees rallied from an early 2-0 deficit by scoring five of the next six goals to defeat the Eagles.
Lukas Sillinger, Tristan Amonte, Liam Malmquist, Tyler Ho and Jay O’Brien scored for Penticton (15-3-1-0), which trailed 2-1 after the first period. The two teams were tied 3-3 after 40 minutes.
Ho scored at 18:08 of the third to make it 4-3, with Jay O’Brien sealing the game at 19:22 into an empty net.
Wyatt Schlaht and Holden Katzalay, with two goals, replied for Surrey (6-13-0-1).
Carl Stankowski stopped 32 of 35 shots for the Vees with Cal Schell turning aside 38 of 42 shots for the Eagles.
Penticton was 1-for-4 on the power play while Surrey was 1-for-2.
At Victoria, the Vipers scored three times in the first, then added two more in the second in defeating the Grizzlies.
Connor Marritt, Colby Feist and Matt Kowalski, with first-period goals, plus Connor Sleeth and Dawson Holt, with third-period markers, scored for Vernon (11-7-0-0).
Nico Somerville and Trevor Bishop, with goals in the second, replied for Victoria (7-14-0-0).
Reilly Herbst stopped 25 of 27 shots for the Vipers, with Joe Howe turning aside 27 of 32 shots for the Grizzlies.
Vernon was 2-for-4 on the power play while Victoria was 0-for-2.
Saturday’s games
- Vernon (11-7-0-0) at Cowichan Valley (11-8-1-1), 6 p.m.
- Trail (13-6-2-0) at Salmon Arm (15-4-1-0), 6 p.m.
- Penticton (15-3-1-0) at Victoria (7-14-0-0), 7 p.m.
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday results
- Kelowna 5, Osoyoos 1
- Chase 6, Grand Forks 2
- 100 Mile House 4, Summerland 2
- Revelstoke 2, Sicamous 1
- Princeton 3, North Okanagan 2
Saturday’s games
- 100 Mile House (7-8-0-0-0) at Kelowna (12-1-0-0-0), 7 p.m.
- Kimberley (12-1-0-0-1) at Grand Forks (7-7-0-0-1), 7 p.m.
- Revelstoke (10-2-0-0-2) at Sicamous (8-9-0-0-0), 7 p.m.
- Chase (9-5-0-0-1) at Summerland (8-8-0-0-2), 7:30 p.m.
- North Okanagan (5-9-0-0-2) at Osoyoos (0-13-0-0-2), 7:35 p.m.