The North Okanagan Knights will show no love to the Osoyoos Coyotes on Valentine’s Day.
In fact, the Knights hope to dump the Coyotes right out of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs Friday at the Nor-Val Sports Centre.
North Okanagan needs only a win in one of its final six regular season games to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot in the Bill Ohlhausen Division, and their first chance comes Friday night at home (7:30 p.m. faceoff) against the Coyotes, who are 11 points behind the Knights.
North OK has won three of the first five meetings between the two sides.
The Knights will enter the game having lost their last four in a row, including being swept in three games on the weekend, culminating with a 5-2 loss Sunday at home to the second-place Princeton Posse, who opened the contest with a four-goal first-period against North Okanagan affiliate call-up goalie Colby Dynneson.
The Willowbrook, B.C. product was pulled after 20 minutes in favour of Caedon Bellmann, who was coming off a 52-save performance the night before in Revelstoke in a 12-1 defeat to the Grizzlies.
North Okanagan lost starting goalie Sean Kanervisto to a lower body injury in Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Grizzlies in Armstrong.
Bryan Brew and Tyler Kulczycki, on a powerplay, scored Sunday for the Knights.
