Luke Chakrabarti’s hat trick helped lift the Creston Valley Thunder Cats to a 5-3 win over the Osoyoos Coyotes, Friday night at the Sun Bowl Arena.
The Coyotes held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, before allowing the Thunder Cats to score three unanswered third period goals, the last two of which came off the stick of Chakrabarti.
Reese MacLean, Ethan McKinley and Zach Park provided the Osoyoos offence.
A huge turning point in the game came in the second period when the Coyotes scored to take what appeared to be a 3-1 advantage. After emphatically signaling a goal, the referee changed his mind and waved it off, disallowing a puck that clearly crossed the goal line and exited just as quickly.
Despite outshooting Creston 40-35, including 13-7 in the final period in which they allowed three goals, Osoyoos looked flat and off its game for most of the night. Rhett Harkot suffered his first setback in net following two straight victories to begin the season. The loss also snapped a four-game winning streak.
The Coyotes will look to rebound on Wednesday night (October 19th), when they host the North Okanagan Knights, beginning at 7:35.
