STEAM COMPLETE PERFECT WEEKEND, TAKE OVER FIRST PLACE

On Sunday afternoon the Summerland Steam hosted the North Okanagan Knights in hopes of going 3 for 3 on the weekend and gaining control of top spot in the Okanagan Division. They were looking to catch the Kelowna Chiefs and pull a point ahead in the 1st place position, with a pivotal matchup with the Chiefs coming up next Friday night in Kelowna. The Steam were able to come out on top on this Sunday afternoon with a 4-2 win thanks to 3 points each from Daylan Robertson, Paulsen Lautard, and Sam Nigg, as well as 31 saves from goaltender Darren Hogg.

The 3 points for Robertson on the afternoon gave him 9 points (5G 4A) in 3 games on the weekend, and extended his point streak to an astounding 13 straight games.


Paulsen Lautard recorded 3 points on Sunday as well, giving him 8 points in 3 weekend games (3G, 5A), and he has recorded a point in 10 of his last 11 games.

GAME RECAP:

The Steam got another fast start, as just 24 seconds into the hockey game the captain, Daylan Robertson, found Paulsen Lautard wide open in front of the net where he deposited the puck behind Knights' goaltender Zach Dyment to give the Steam the early lead.

Robertson then scored one of his own after pulling a puck out of a scrum in front of the Knights' goal to extend the Steam's lead to 2-0 at 2:24 of the 1st period. Dennon Leibel would then respond for the Knights as he put a good tip on a Mathew Halvorson shot in front of Darren Hogg to cut the Steam's lead in half.

The score stayed 2-1 Summerland until just under 4 minutes into the second period when Sam Nigg took a nifty pass from Robertson and went high over the glove of Zach Dyment in the Knights' net to restore the Steam's 2 goal lead. Paulsen Lautard drew the second assist on Nigg's goal which was the Steam's 3rd goal of the night, giving the whole line each 3 points.

Josh Dacosta would then take a shot off the wall just 4 minutes later that bounced off a North Okanagan defender and into the net behind Dyment to give the Steam a 4-1 lead.

The Knights got one back on the powerplay late in the period as Logan Geefs took a deflected shot and lifted it up over the glove of Hogg in the Steam goal to cut the lead to 4-2.

This goal rounded out the scoring as there was no scoring in the third period, and ended in a 4-2 Steam victory. The victory propels the Steam into 1st place in the Okanagan Division, 1 point up on the Kelowna Chiefs who they will take on IN Kelowna on Friday night, February 21. The Steam will be able to clinch a first place finish in the Okanagan Division with a regulation win over the Chiefs on Friday night. They will then return home to play their final game of the 2013/2014 regular season on Saturday, February 22nd vs the Osoyoos Coyotes.

As always you can follow along with the Steam on Facebook at 'Summerland Junior B Hockey Club' or with the team (@SteamKIJHL) and myself (@Steam_Voice) on Twitter for all the latest updates on the happenings around the KIJHL!