For the third straight game, the West Kelowna Warriors went to overtime but this time, it went their way.
Coming off an overtime loss to Trail (Nov. 29) and a shootout loss to Spruce Grove (Nov. 30), the Warriors welcomed the Cranbrook Bucks to town on Wednesday night (Dec. 4), treated the fans to free hockey once again, and came out with the 3-2 win.
The Warriors opened the scoring as Luciano Bruno scored his first career BCHL goal 11:28 into the game. Sam LeDrew and Jackson Kyrkostas assisted on the goal.
Goaltender Jack Lisson stood on his head for West Kelowna, making 15 saves in the first period alone.
The Bucks got on the board in the second frame and their very good powerplay unit took advantage of the opportunity at hand. Rasmus Svartstr枚m found the back of the net for the 19th time this season, assisted by Jacob Fletcher and Matthew Gilmore.
It remained 1-1 going into the third period when Cranbrook struck just 52 seconds into the frame to take their first lead of the game. It was Kaslo Ferner's 11th goal of the season, assisted by Gilmore. It was also on the powerplay.
At the 9:11 mark of the period, the Warriors powerplay came to life as Axel Lofgren scored his ninth goal of the season, assisted by the Warriors goaltender Lisson.
Nothing was decided after 60 minutes so the teams headed to overtime where 4:39 into the frame, Warriors captain Simon Houge scored his second goal of the campaign, assisted by Kyrkostas to give West Kelowna the 3-2 win and snap their four-game losing streak.
Lisson made 36 saves in the win while Bucks goaltender Jaden Cholette made 24 saves in the loss.
The Bucks (12-10-1-0) and Warriors (9-10-5-2) both have 25 points on the season now but remain sixth and seventh respectively in the Interior Conference. West Kelowna has also played three more games than Cranbrook.
The Warriors are back in action on Saturday night (Dec. 7) as it'll be a special night at Royal LePage Place. As they welcome the Sherwood Park Crusaders (15-9-0-0) to town, it's the Warriors 17th annual Teddy Bear Toss night at the rink. Those attending are encouraged to bring their stuffed animal or teddy bear and throw it onto the ice when the Warriors score their first goal of the game. All of them will go towards the Salvation Army and Stuffies for Seniors.
