PHOTO: Martin Ross
CRANBROOK, B.C. – Matthew DellaRusso turned aside 36 shots while Felix Caron scored twice as the West Kelowna Warriors took a 3-0 series lead in their best-of-seven Interior Conference Quarter Final against the Cranbrook Bucks with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night at Western Financial Place.
An explosive opening period for the Warriors began with two goals in 22 seconds and it was the leading scorer and point getter in the regular season in Felix Caron who notched his 1st goal of the postseason to get a three-goal opening frame underway.
Caron took a pass in the left face-off circle from Viggo Nordström off the rush and had it bank off his right skate and into the back of the net at 7:31 of the opening period for a 1-0 lead before, 22 seconds later, Cal Hughes pushed the Warriors to a two-goal edge in the first period.
On a similar play and net drive, the red hot line of Trent Wilson, Jack Pridham and Hughes all factored in as Pridham swung a pass from the right side to the backdoor on the blocker side of Bucks goaltender Braedyn McIntosh as Hughes drove the net and deflected the puck past for his 3rd goal of the series and a 2-0 lead in the span of 22 seconds.
A 5-on-3 power play, the 6th goal on the man advantage in the series for the Warriors, contributed to the 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. 7 seconds into the power play, Caron was fed in the left corner and from a sharp angle blitzed a shot past McIntosh on the blocker side at 9:40 of the period as West Kelowna took a 3-0 lead in the game.
Carter Capton came on in relief to begin the second period for the Bucks and seemed to give the home side a spark, including making two big saves on breakaways on Jackson Kykostas and Carter Oakenfold while Jaden Fodchuk was the lone player to find the back of the net in the middle stanza.
Fodchuk took a pass from the left wing and raced into the offensive zone as he snapped a shot toward the net that went off of a body at the side of the goal and dribbled past the goal line on the blocker side of Warriors goaltender Matthew DellaRusso to make the game 3-1 at the 4:49 mark of the 2nd period and was the only goal of the period to head into the final regulation period with a 3-1 Warriors advantage.
DellaRusso dazzled in the 3rd period, which featured 15 saves on 16 shots in the final frame despite an early goal for the Bucks as Kaslo Ferner got around the Warriors blue line and past a defender before going to the net and sliding a puck through the legs of DellaRusso at 3:22 of the period to make the game 3-2.
As Cranbrook tried to get the game on even terms, the Warriors and their goaltender stood tall down to the final seconds where DellaRusso came up with a game saving stop, moving to his left and denying Noah Urness in the right face-off circle at the buzzer to secure a victory and a 3-2 win in Game 3 to push the Bucks to the brink of elimination.
FINAL SCORE: 3-2 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 41-38 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 1/3
WARRIORS PK: 3/3
3 STARS:
1) Felix Caron (2-0-2)
2) Cal Hughes (1-0-1)
3) Carter Capton (23 saves on 23 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Jarrod Smith (0-0-0)
ATTENDANCE: 1,167
The Warriors will look to punch their ticket to the 2nd round with Game 4 of their best-of-seven Interior Conference Quarter Final series against the Cranbrook Bucks on Wednesday night at Western Financial Place. Puck drop is set for 6:00 PM PST with the game being broadcasted live on bchlwarriors.mixlr.com as well as streamed online on FloHockey.
