Mason Rudolph’s second goal of the game 42 seconds into overtime gave the Osoyoos Coyotes a 6-5 victory over the Quesnel River Rush, Friday night at the Sun Bowl Arena.
Rudolph (pictured above) stole the puck deep inside the Quesnel zone, before burying a nifty backhand from in close.
Cameron Whitelaw, Austin Cooper, Kyle Cyr and Spencer Fleck also scored for Osoyoos. Cooper added a pair of assists. The Coyotes were an expressive three for four on the powerplay.
The teams were tied 2-2 after the first. Osoyoos squandered a 5-3 second period lead as the River Rush got to within one at 5-4 after 40 minutes, eventually tying things less than eight minutes into the third.
It was an entertaining, free-wheeling affair which was even in shots at 41 apiece entering three-on-three sudden death. Jaiden Jakubowski earned the win in net.
The last three outings have gone into overtime, the Coyotes winning two of them for five of a possible six points. Osoyoos gained some ground on Merritt, who lost 3-0 in Revelstoke on Friday night. With 12 regular season games remaining, the Coyotes are now 13 points back of the Centennials for the Bill Ohlhausen Division’s final playoff spot.
A doubleheader home weekend concludes with Saturday night’s hosting of the other new Cariboo entry into the league, the Williams Lake Mustangs. Face-off time is 7:00 o’clock.
