PHOTO: Lisa Mazurek
VERNON, B.C. – Felix Caron notched a third period hat trick as the West Kelowna Warriors snapped the Vernon Vipers seven-game win streak with a 4-1 victory at Kal Tire Place on Friday night.
The Warriors played one of their best periods of hockey in the early season, outshooting the Vipers by a margin of 15-2 after the opening 20 minutes and caused plenty of problems with a strong forecheck and quick moving puck control that didn’t see Vernon with much time in the offensive zone.
That forecheck caused a turnover and the only goal of the period courtesy of Cal Hughes to give West Kelowna a 1-0 advantage. Mikka Kelechian forced the puck free below the goal line before Trent Wilson found the handle behind the goal and slid a pass to the front of the net where Hughes collected in the slot and sent a shot past the blocker side of Vipers netminder Ethan David for his 3rd goal of the season at the 5:30 mark of the 1st period for a 1-0 lead.
The 2nd period followed a similar mold from the opening frame in the way of not much offense being created as no goals were scored between the two sides in the middle frame with the Vipers holding the slight edge in shots in the middle frame with Rorke Applebee turning aside each of the 8 shots thrown his way in the period and turned aside 10 of the 10 shots he faced through two periods while Ethan David made 7 second period saves and 21 of 22 through 40 minutes.
Felix Caron took over in the game and in the 3rd period, scoring the first of his three markers in the final frame beginning at the 2:35 mark of the final period with his 4th goal of the season. Caron took a Brennan Nelson pass and made his way down the left wing before snapping a shot from the face-off circle past the blocker side of David to give the Warriors a 2-0 advantage.
The Vipers made their way back in the game with a marker at the 5:55 mark of the 3rd period as Luke Buss got the home team within a goal. Owen Kim dropped a pass for Julian Facchinelli in the left face-off circle before he shot a pass to the backdoor where Buss finished on the glove side of Applebee to give Vernon some life at 2-1.
The two teams traded abbreviated power plays before Caron gave the Warriors a two-goal lead once more at the 12:04 mark of the 3rd period with his second of the period and an identical rush to his first goal. This time down the right wing, Caron cut to the circle before snapping a shot past David, who attempted to push the puck down with his glove and had the puck zip past him as the Warriors regained their two goal edge at 3-1.
Caron capped off his third period hat trick at 17:52 of the final period into an empty net and his 6th goal of the season gave the Warriors a 4-1 lead. Johannes Løkkeberg battled the puck free on the left wing and chipped it up the left wing boards as Caron carried to the bottom of the face-off circle and backhanded the puck to the empty net to make it a 4-1 final.
Rorke Applebee turned aside 15 of the 16 shots thrown his way in his 5th win of the season while Ethan David made 27 saves on 30 shots in his 2nd loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 4-1 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 31-16 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 0/2
WARRIORS PK: 2/2
3 STARS:
1) Felix Caron (3-0-3)
2) Brennan Nelson (0-1-1)
3) Luke Buss (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Owen Kim (0-1-1)
ATTENDANCE: 2,449
The Warriors (7-2-1-0) make the trek to the BCHL Showcase in Seattle, Washington and open their two-game set against the Langley Rivermen (4-6-0-0) on Monday, October 23rd at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Puck drop is slated for 4:00 PM with the game being streamed live on FloHockey as well as broadcasted live with a free audio-only stream at mixlr.com/bchlwarriors.
