The Summerland Steam earned a 5-3 win over the North Okanagan Knights in Armstrong on Sunday evening.
Summerland dominated the first period with two unanswered goals.
At 7:49, Riley Pettitt scored a shorthanded goal, assisted by Brogan Lautard.
At 5:49, Cole Williams scored, assisted by Jack Mills and Braden Eliuk.
In the second period, two North Okanagan goals brought the game to a tie, but the Steam surged ahead when Paulsen Lautard scored at 7:32. He was assisted by Eliuk and Mills.
Lautard scored again at 2:11, assisted by Mills.
In the third period, the Knights scored on a power play, but the Steam answered with a power play goal by Mills at 8:19. Matthew Monk and Eliuk had the assists.
The Steam are in first place in the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference: Okanagan Division in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
“We played a great game. We had plenty of opportunities. We dominated most of the game,” said Summerland Steam coach John DePourcq.
The Steam took some penalties, allowing the Knights to get back in the game.
“They were able to gut a win out on the road,” he said.
The Steam’s record is four wins and one loss in regular season play.
“It’s still only our fifth game of the season. The guys are generating lots of chances,” DePourcq said. “It’s always big when you can get a nice win on the road. There were some penalties at the end. There that some in the offensive zone, those types of things, that I wasn’t really happy with. We have to understand. It’s nice when we can still win, yet learn from some valuable things that happen on the ice late in the game.”
On Friday, the Steam will return to Armstrong to face the Knights once more.
On Sunday, the Steam and the Knights will face off at the Summerland Arena. The game begins at 2 p.m.