JOSH LOCKHART
The Kimberley Dynamiters continue to have success with weekend wins over the Castlegar Rebels and Golden Rockets, giving themselves a record of 7-1 for the month of September.
The Dynamiters earned their sixth win on Friday against the Castelgar Rebels, a game that head coach and general manager Derek Stuart felt should have been won in the first period, saying that it was the team’s best first period this season because they did everything.
Nitros fired an astounding 20 shots in the first period, to the Rebels’ 6, but only Chase Gedney was able to beat the Rebels’ acrobatic goaltender, Curt Doyle.
The Nitros built themselves a 2-0 lead as defender Derian Bamber scored his first KIJHL goal. After that, the Rebels rebounded, outshooting the Nitros 17-11, and adding one of their own goals. Keeper Cody “Soup” Campbell kept the Nitros in the game.
“In the second period, Campbell made some very good saves to keep the game close, especially on their power play,” Stuart said after the game.
Langelaar would score on the power play early in the third to give the Nitros their third goal, and the eventual game winner, as the Rebels added one more of their own.
Campbell would finish the night with 30 saves, while star of the game Gedney figured in on all three goals, adding two assists to the opening goal.
“Gedney was real good,” Stuart said. “He has a real knack for scoring goals. He is the closest we have to a pure goal-scorer. He surprised the goaltender with his shot.”
Campbell would return to net on Saturday, playing back to back. The reason, Campbell has Golden’s number. He has played three career games against Golden, and in each one, he has earned a shutout; he was clearly looking to make it four.
To start the game, the Nitros looked flat as the Rockets clogged the ice surface. Brock Palmer scored on the power play to help the Nitros escape a bad period with a 1-0 lead.
“I think everyone was a little over confident going into the game, knowing the fact that we beat them the game before,” Palmer said. “I just tried to keep the mindset to come out hard and give it all I’ve got to help the team get the victory.”
Teammate Brant Mack echoed the same message, “we expected to win effortlessly and that definitely was not the case.”
Palmer would add his second goal of the game early in the second, it was his first multi-goal night in the KIJHL.
“It was awesome, it felt so good,” Palmer smiled. “Trying to get the hattrick was on my mind, but it was awesome to get the two.”
The players and the coaching staff were aware that their performance through the first 40 minutes was nowhere near where their performance level.
Then, in a span of eight seconds in the third, the Nitros showed what their performance potential was, especially the effective line of Mack, Lucas Purdy and Austin Lawson. Lawson scored with help from Mack just after a power play expired, and then Mack scored eight seconds later with help from Lawson.
“The turning point in the game was when Lawson and I scored those two goals back to back,” Mack said after the game. “He was a man on a mission throughout the game, and was being rewarded for his play.”
Mack would later pressure the Rocket’s goalie and create a turnover scoring a short handed goal and giving the Nitro’s a 5-0 lead.
“It always feels good to have hard work pay off with a few points,” Mack said. “Especially when we are playing at home in front of all our fans.”
When all was said and done, Campbell earned his fourth career shutout in his fourth career game against Golden, making 20 saves.
Despite the lopsided score, head coach and general manager Stuart said that the team was awful, and that they received a victory even though the didn’t earn it.
However, he is overall pleased with the team because the 7-1 record is similar to the start the Nitros had last season, and it also matches the start the 2014-15 Championship Dynamiters had.
AROUND THE EDDIE: Columbia Valley Rockies would skate to a 4-4 draw against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats, and then follow that up with a 5-4 OT win over Spokane Braves. The Cats would then go on and loose 3-2 to the Nelson Leafs. Fernie Ghostriders won both their weekend games, 6-4 over Beaver Valley Nitehawks, and 4-3 over Castlegar Rebels. The Rockets lost their Friday match 3-1 to the Braves.