PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The West Kelowna Warriors look to end a four game winless stretch when they head to the Mainland for a matchup against the Coquitlam Express at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre.
Season Series:
Thursday, September 22nd @ Prospera Centre (5-3 Warriors)
Wednesday, October 19th @ Poirier Sports & Leisure Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, February 4th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors are coming off of a tough weekend of games as they were swept in a home-and-home with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. West-K dropped Friday night’s game by a 5-4 score in overtime in the Shuswap after holding a 4-0 lead early in the 2nd period while the Warriors jumped to an early 2-0 lead on Saturday before falling to the ‘Backs by a 6-4 score on home ice at Royal LePage Place.
West Kelowna and Coquitlam have met once this season as the teams clashed at the Bauer BCHL Showcase, an afternoon game in which the Warriors skated away with a 5-3 victory. Quin Foreman tallied two goals in the game while Reed Gunville, Mitchell Barker and Mitch Martan added singles in the Warriors victory with Shane Farkas turned aside 22 of 25 shots for the win in goal.
This is the second of three meetings between the two teams before the season series wraps up in West Kelowna in the new year. The Warriors are looking to continue their success against teams outside of the Interior Division as West-K is 3-0 against teams from the Mainland Division with one win against the Express and two coming against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
The offence took over during the home-and-home set with the Silverbacks as the Warriors scored four goals in each of their two games against Salmon Arm. One player that has had a hot hand lately has been the likes of Reed Gunville as the Prince Albert, SK native has already eclipsed his total for goals from last year as the second year forward has seven to his name this season when he totaled five through 56 games last year.
Along with the career high in goals, Gunville is currently enjoying a 6-game point streak where he has amassed 5 goals and 8 points over that span.
The Express have lost four games in a row with their last win coming on October 7th, a 5-4 overtime victory against the Langley Rivermen. Coquitlam last played on Saturday when they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Wenatchee Wild as they are 0-2 during their current five-game home stand while being shutout in three of their last four games.
The Express are led in scoring by second year forward Owen Stout, who sits 12th overall in league scoring with four goals and 18 points. Coquitlam continues to ride the theme of being a run-and-gun team as the Express are tied for the most goals against in the league (58).
Puck drop tonight is at 7:00 PM from Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre with the pre game show starting at 6:50 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and hockeytv.com. West Kelowna is back at home on Saturday, October 22nd when they host the Penticton Vees.
