Since Christmas the Dynamiters have made it their goal to finish out the regular season on top of the Eddie Mountain division, and they managed to pull off two important wins over the weekend and are currently sitting at number one with two games left to play.
READ MORE: Dynamiters win two at home, set sights on finishing season atop their division
“We’re feeling pretty good,” said head coach, general manager Derek Stuart. “After we lost to Nelson a couple weeks ago we figured we had to go 7-0 in our remaining games and we’re 5-0 now and have two left so we’re definitely feeling good but we know the job’s not done yet either.”
The weekend began with a game against then division heads the Columbia Valley Rockies, and the Nitros knew that in order to be number one at the end of the season, winning this one was a must.
Austin Daniels, who has been a strong force on the ice, particularly since the Christmas break, opened the scoring on a power play late in the first period.
Columbia Valley opened the scoring in the second to tie it up, before Tenzin Bogardis made it 2-1 and then Jayden Kostiuk wracked up another on the power play with less than a minute left in the period.
Kasey Miller would score an empty net goal in the final minutes of the third to seal up a triumphant 4-1 win over the toughest team in the division.
“There definitely were not a lot of scoring chances for both teams, it was very defensive,” Stuart said. “I thought the key for us was again just team defence, that was the focus of the game to make sure that we’re playing to our identity which is team defence first, and I thought the guys did a good job in that department.”
Saturday’s game against Creston Valley wound up in a shutout, the Nitros beating down the Thunder Cats 3-0. Austin Daniels for the second straight game scored the first goal. He currently has the most goals on the team with 22 and has a total of 36 points this season.
“Austin’s been great since Christmas and he was our best player on the weekend,” Stuart said. “He led the way by scoring the first goal of both games and they were both very important goals.”
Conner Furukawa and Jayden Kostiuk rounded out the night’s scoring.
With just two games left and playoffs looming, Stuart said the team is feeling good and their chances of finishing on top of the division are good, plus they now have a shot to be the best in the conference as well.
“We’re not even talking about playoffs right now, we’re still focused on our goal of attaining first in the division and now we’re able to attain first in the conference if we win both games,” he explained. “So we’re looking at finishing up our regular season goals and then we’ll deal with the playoffs on Sunday.”
The Nitros have their final game of the year, taking on Creston Valley once again for Fan Appreciation Night on Friday, Feb. 18.
“Our crowd’s have been fantastic all year, just like they are every year, so we’re not expecting anything different for our last game and hopefully the crowd can get behind us and help us get the win that we need,” Stuart said.
After that, the last game of the regular season will be played on the road against Castlegar on Saturday, Feb. 19, an opponent they’ve only played twice earlier in the season.
Stuart said the team will be spending a bit more time in practice on special teams, as they become that much more important at this stage in the season, but beyond that the focus is just keeping the guys loose and focused on their game on Friday.
paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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