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Rockies romp 9-5 over Dynamiters

Third-period offensive push from Columbia Valley decides the game.

Pucks were flying at the Kimberley Civic Centre on Tuesday night, as the Columbia Valley Rockies skated away with a 9-5 victory over the Dynamiters.

Despite entering the final period tied at 4-4, the Rockies managed to put on a burst of offensive productivity to pull ahead for the win.

Rockies forward Brendan Burge ended the night with seven points off of two goals and five assists, while teammate Racey Red Crow had four goals and an assist.

From the start, it was clear that the game would be interesting.

The Nitros refused to participate in the warmup, as a show of solidarity to protest the resignation of assistant coach Jordan Foreman, who left the team on Monday evening.

Columbia Valley got on the powerplay three times right off the bat, making good on their third opportunity, when Dylan Sakatch scored to take the lead.

The Nitros had a two-man advantage shortly after, but couldn’t beat Stewart Pratt, who manned the crease for Columbia Valley.

Stephen Pratt increased the Rockies’ lead, when he found himself on a breakaway during a bad Nitro line change with six minutes left in the period.

Red Crow tripled Columbia Valley’s lead with less than two minutes on the clock when he took advantage of a puck bobbled by Nitro stopper Jeremy Mousseau.

The second period was a better effort from Kimberley’s end, as the Dynamiters scored four times, while the Rockies only got one goal.

Connor Kutzner skated around the top of the offensive zone face-off circle and wristed a shot into the net for Kimberley’s first marker.

Isaac Schacher followed up with another Nitro goal, before Red Crow responded for Columbia Valley.

However, the Dynamiters responded again with a pair from Tyson Klingspohn and Jared Marchi, which brought the score back to 4-4 going into the final 20 minutes.

However, Columbia Valley needed only 30 seconds to pull ahead, as Burge got his first of the game, while Red Crow added his third of the game on the powerplay a minute later.

Sam Nigg brought the Nitros back to within a goal five minutes later, but Red Crow restored the two-goal lead with ten minutes left in the game.

Stephen Pratt increased the lead to three goals with five minutes to go, and Burge scored the token empty netter with two minutes left in the game.

While the goals piled up on the scoresheet, the penalties were noticeable as well, as the Rockies had one 10-minute misconduct, while the Nitros had five 10-minute misconducts and two game ejections.

Columbia Valley scored three times in nine opportunities with the man-advantage, while Kimberley scored twice with 10 opportunities.

The Rockies are sitting in third place in the Eddie Mountain Division, nine points behind the Nitros. Kimberley has a tenuous hold on third place, as the Rockies have three games in hand, while the Ghostriders and Rockets scrap it out for first place.

Next action for the Dynamiters is Saturday night, when they host the Penticton Lakers—a team which will be folding from the KIJHL at the end of the season.



Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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