The West Kelowna Warriors scored three goals in a 1:58 span while killing off nine penalties in a heated 4-2 victory over the Wenatchee Wild.
The Wild scored the lone goal in the opening frame despite the large amount of penalties delved out to the Warriors in the period. Charlie Combs found the back of the goal after a nice pass from Brendan Harris to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at the 12:55 mark of the period. West Kelowna was penalized five times and killed off all five of their penalties.
The Warriors come out with a burst of energy in the 2nd period and it showed with three goals in a span of 1:58. Quin Foreman got the scoring going by striping the puck and beating the Wild defender and beating Wild netminder Garrett Nieto over the glove side and tying the game at one.
The Warriors took their first lead at the 2:15 mark of the 2nd period as Blake Coffey fired a shot on the low blocker side for his 3rd goal of the season and a 2-1 Warriors advantage.
West Kelowna jumped ahead by two goals just 33 seconds later as a terrific stretch pass from Chase Stevenson banked off the boards and behind the Wenatchee defense and found the stick of Chase Dubois, who deeked to his backhand on the breakaway for his 9th goal of the season and a 3-1 Warrior advantage at the 2:48 mark of the 2nd period.
That goal ended Garrett Nieto’s night as he allowed three goals on six shots and Anthony Yamnitsky relieved him after that.
Wenatchee continued to pepper the Warrior net with shots but newcoming goaltender Nik Amundrud was outstanding in the crease with 34 saves on 35 shots through 40 minutes of play.
The Wild cut the deficit to one goal as Logan Milliken fired a shot from the left half wall and beat Amundrud to the glove side just 13 seconds into a penalty kill for the shorthanded goal at the 5:26 mark of the 3rd period to cut the Warriors lead to 3-2.
West Kelowna had an answer exactly one minute later at the 6:26 mark of the final frame as Matthew Campese wristed a shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle and beat Yamnitsky on the glove side for a 4-2 lead.
Nik Amundrud was outstanding in his Warriors debut, making 45 saves on 47 shots for his first victory in his BCHL debut. Garrett Nieto went 3 for 6 and took the loss while Anthony Yamnitsky stopped 8 of 9 shots thrown his way.
The Warriors (11-11-0-1) return to action on Tuesday night when they face-off against the Penticton Vees (21-4-0-0) at Royal LePage Place. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM with tickets available at the Warriors office and by calling Kim at (250)769-7051.
FINAL SCORE: 4-2 Warriors
SHOTS: 47-15 Wenatchee
PP: West Kelowna (1/4) Wenatchee (0/9)
3 STARS: 1) Nik Amundrud (45 saves on 47 shots)
2) Quin Foreman (1-0-1)
3) Brendan Harris (0-2-2)
Attendance: 1026
