Connor Bowen of the Rebels looks to score against GF on Tuesday
Despite losing to the Castlegar Rebels on Saturday in overtime at the Castlegar Community Centre, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks have clinched top spot in the Neil Murdoch Division and will have home ice advantage for at least the first two play-off rounds.
The Rebels picked up five of six points during a busy week and solidified their hold on second place in the division. On Friday in Fruitvale, The Rebs lost 4-3 in overtime to the 'Hawks. On Saturday at home, Castlegar turned the tables and beat BV by the same score also in overtime. On Tuesday, the Rebs were at home again and shut out basement dwelling Grand Forks 3-0.
"Overall, I was pleased with the effort," said Rebel coach Steve Junker. "Playoff hockey is a bit of a different animal - it's about winning hockey games and learning how to win, how to stay in games and not give up leads. Having two really tight matches against BV is a good lesson to learn heading into play-offs. They're always great match-ups. I think they were exciting for the fans, which is great."
On Saturday night, Rebel sharp-shooter Scott Morisseau, assisted by Riley Henderson and Aaron Brewer, scored at 1:27 of overtime to give Castlegar the win over Beaver Valley at the Community Complex.
Goals from Stuart Walton, Arthur Andrews, and Tyler Robinson gave the Rebels a 3-1 lead late in the third period. Two goals from BV with less than two minutes, including Dallas Calvin equalizer with 38 seconds left in regulation, send the game into overtime.
"You come to expect anytime you have a lead heading into the last couple of minutes of a game, you know there will be a big push back from the other team," said Junker. "They have some talented players over there that can score. It was unfortunate (they tied it up) but again a learning lesson. We got the win, the two points at the end."
On Friday in Fruitvale, the roles were reversed as Beaver Valley won 4-3 in overtime with the winning goal scored by Christian Johnson.
Anthony Delong tied the game with 36 seconds left for Castlegar. Riley Henderson and Scott Morisseau scored the other Friday goals for the Rebs.
"It shows how you're never really out of it," said Junker. "You're always battling. A couple of goals there and we answered right away on the power play, which kept us in the game. We were lucky to get one in a scramble in front of the net. We had enough chances to score in overtime."
Junker praised the strong play of all four goaltenders in the Castlegar/Beaver Valley series. (Zach Perehudoff and Mike Vlanich for BV and Jordan Gluck and Connor Beauchamp for Castlegar).
"Each goalie played one game each," he said. "I thought all four goalies played well all weekend. Each goalie made big saves, key saves in both games."
Tuesday saw the Rebels shut out the Grand Forks Border Bruins 3-0 at the Castlegar Community Complex. Bruin netminder Dylan Quinn was strong between the pipes turning back 48 of 51 Rebel shots. Jordan Gluck picked up the shutout for Castlegar making 13 saves.
Scoring for Castlegar were Bryce Eviston, Peter Mingus, and Tyler Jones.
The Rebs sat out Anthony Delong, Stuart Walton, and captain Erik Alden. Meanwhile, Riley Henderson and Brenden Heinrich were call up to the Junior A Trail Smoke Eaters.
"We had the opportunity to play a couple of our affiliate players," said Junker. "We hope to have a play-off run and you never know who you'll need to play. So giving some of our AP players an opportunity to fit in in our mix is great."
The play-off match-ups have been determined for the Neil Murdoch Division. Castlegar will face Nelson in the first round, while Beaver Valley will have home ice advantage against Spokane. The play-offs will begin Feb. 24.
