The newest additions to the Cowichan Valley Capitals' lineup had key contributions on Wednesday night as the team won two games in a row for the first time in the 2014/15 B.C. Hockey League season.
Adam Osczevski scored on a penalty shot in the third period and Kade Kehoe had an emptynet goal and set up Rylan Bechtel's eventual game-winner in the second period as the Caps beat the Victoria Grizzlies 5-2 at the Q Centre.
"They seem to be enjoying themselves," Beatty said of the duo, who came to Cowichan from West Kelowna earlier this month. "They play hard; they play the right way. They're good team players. We're certainly happy with their impact. We didn't expect them to score as much as they have, but they have been getting some goals for us as well."
The Caps opened the game on a strong note by keeping things simple.
"We had a good first period," Beatty said. "We played the type of game we need to be successful. We weren't too cute coming out of our own end. We took a lot of pucks to the net. We were keeping things on the right side of the red line."
Ryan Burton opened the scoring four and a half minutes into the first period. The Grizzlies tied the score just over a minute later, but Sean Harrison put the Caps ahead again and they carried that lead into the first intermission.
Rylan Bechtel had the lone goal of the second period. Former Capital Dane Gibson got the Grizzlies back within one with a powerplay goal in the third, but Osczevski added some insurance with his successful penalty shot, and Kehoe wrapped it up with an empty-netter.
Lane Michasiw picked up the win in goal with 34 saves on 36 shots. The Caps fired 26 shots at the Grizzlies' net.
"We regressed a little in the second and third, but Lane played a solid game in net for us," Beatty said.
With the win, the Caps improved to 6-18-0-1 on the season, but still sit 13 points back of fourth-place Victoria in the Island Division. They will play two more key division games this weekend as they travel to Powell River for back-toback matches with the Kings on Friday and Saturday. The Kings sit third in the Island Division.
"We have to keep going forward," Beatty said. "Powell River is not an easy place to win, but we have to come out with some points."