The Kimberley Dynamiters built on their preseason success and skated away with two wins over the KIJHL's regular season opening weekend, downing the Creston Valley Thundercats in a close game on the road and blowing them out in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday.

The Nitros handed the Thundercats a close 4-3 loss on the road and came home on Saturday to maul them with a 15-5 drubbing.

"It was two totally different teams, in Creston, it was much better; we saw them the other night (Friday), but I told the guys that one positive thing is, we know how to score goals and the negative thing is, we need to work on our defensive play," said Dynamiter head coach Roman Vopat.

The Nitros fielded backup tender Braeden Ostepchuk against the Thundercats, who notched his first win as a Dynamiter, turning away 36 of 39 shots.

Saturday night was the Kimberley home opener, which featured a pre-game tailgate party to build up the atmosphere before the puck drop.

The first period was relatively tame; the Nitros scored three goals to grab an early lead, while the T-Cats responded with two near the end in an effort to catch up.

However, the Creston defense crumbled worse than a New Orleans levee in the second frame, surrendering nine goals in 20 minutes. Four goals-at two different times in the period-were scored within 10 seconds of the other and two Nitro powerplay goals added to the carnage.

Five of the eight points garnered by Nitro forward Mark Strachan on Saturday night came from his assists in the second period alone.

The frustration was palpable from the Thundercats bench as Tyler Akeroyd dropped his mitts with Dynamiter forward Connor Kutzner, just past the halfway mark in an effort to fire up his team.

The 'Cats managed to answer with one goal near the end of the period, but the Kimberley squad had a commanding 11-2 lead going into the third.

Despite mounting a small comeback in the final period and scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes while holding off the Nitros, the 'Cats couldn't hope to reduce the deficit. The Dynamiters took control of the last ten minutes and added three more markers to close up the scoring.

Jordan Revie accumulated a hat trick and two assists, while Brennan Forman helped out on five markers and notched one of his own for a six-point night.

"I wasn't really impressed," said Vopat, when asked about the game. "I was impressed that we scored 15 goals but I wasn't impressed with the way we played. I think there is a lot of stuff we have to work on."

Vopat cites the fact that Creston scored five goals and repeated the Nitros mantra of the need to improve their defensive play.

"Well you can't really judge on the last game because obviously their goalie had a night off," he continued, "but we need most of our older guys to not only play offensively, but we need them to step up defensively, too."