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RECAP: Dhaliwal Plays Hero As Warriors Defeat Vipers 4-3 In Overtime

The West Kelowna Warriors went to overtime for a second straight game but this time were on the winning end as Parm Dhaliwal played hero in a 4-3 overtime victory against the Vernon Vipers from Kal Tire Place on Wednesday night.

The Warriors opened the scoring in the game at the 4:22 mark on a deflection as Connor Sodergren spun and fired from the right corner and had the puck go off of a Vernon defender in front of the Vernon goaltender Darion Hanson for his 22nd goal of the season and a 1-0 Warriors lead. On the goal, Warrior forward Braiden Epp collected his 100th career point with an assist.

Vernon didn’t take long to tie the game and did so in a similar fashion as Steven Jandric banked a puck in from the corner off of Warriors netminder Cole Demers to tie the score at one just 49 seconds after the Warriors goal at the 5:11 mark.

Just two minutes after that Vernon tally at the 7:11 mark, the Warriors took the lead back on a partial breakaway by Braiden Epp, who sped past the Vernon defense and got behind them to slide the puck through the legs of Hanson for his 14th goal of the season and a 2-1 Warriors lead.

West Kelowna jumped ahead by two goals at the 10:17 mark of the opening period as Quin Foreman dragged a shot from the right circle that hit Hanson in the glove hand and past him for his 22nd goal of the season to finish off a nice passing play started by Parm Dhaliwal and Chase Dubois and gave the Warriors a 3-1 advantage.

Vernon’s Austin Adamson got the Vipers within one at the 14:45 mark with the Warriors turning the puck over inside their own zone and Ryan Brushett touched a pass to Adamson in tight to beat Demers on the glove side high to finish a high-scoring first period that saw the Warriors ahead by a 3-2 score.

Only one goal was to be had in the 2nd period and it came early in the frame at the 3:13 mark as and nice tic-tac-toe passing play between Brushett and Luke Gingras was finished off by Nike Karamanis with a bullet past the shoulder of Demers to tie the game at three.

The 3rd period was a scoreless one as both teams looked for the go-ahead marker but fell short as the game was forced into overtime. Warriors netminder Cole Demers made 35 saves on 38 shots through 60 minutes of regulation play while Vernon netminder Darion Hanson stopped 32 of 35 shots thrown his way through three periods.

The 4-on-4 overtime period did not last long as just 48 seconds into the extra frame, a shot that deflected off of bodies in front was whacked into the goal by Parm Dhaliwal on the blocker side giving him his 4th goal of the season and snapping the Warriors winless streak at five games with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Vernon Vipers.

Warriors netminder Cole Demers turned aside 35 of the 38 shots in his direction for his 7th victory of the season while Vipers goaltender Darion Hanson stopped 32 of 36 shots for his 3rd loss of the season.

FINAL SCORE: 4-3 (OT) Warriors

SHOTS ON GOAL: 38-35 Vipers

PP: Warriors (0/4) Vipers (0/5)

3 STARS:
1) Braiden Epp (1-2-3)

2) Ryan Brushett (0-2-2)

3) Parm Dhaliwal (1-1-2)

ATTENDANCE: 1380

The Warriors (23-22-0-2) return to action on Friday night as they head to the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena to face-off against the Merritt Centennials (18-20-2-8) in another crucial Interior Division battle. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM with the pre-game show on a 6:50 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and www.hockeytv.com. West Kelowna is back at Royal LePage Place on Saturday night when they host the Mainland Division’s Coquitlam Express.