PHOTO: Tami Quan
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors got two goals from Chris Duclair and a late Rylee Hlusiak marker forced overtime but it was the Nanaimo Clippers who prevailed by a 5-4 score on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
West Kelowna fired 21 shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes of play and were rewarded for their efforts late in the period but for the fifth straight game had to battle from a multi-goal deficit as Nanaimo opened the scoring with two quick goals in 52 seconds, beginning at the 7:23 mark of the opening period.
Tyler Wishart got the puck at the top of the right face-off circle and dropped a pass off at the right point for Michael Craig with the Clippers defender walking in and firing a shot past the glove side of Warriors goaltender Angelo Zol to give Nanaimo a 1-0 lead.
Moments after the marker, Kai Daniells pushed the Clippers to a two-goal advantage at the 8:15 mark of the opening frame. Brett Merner set up Daniells with a slap pass from the right point as he deflected a shot past the blocker side of Zol, ending the Warriors goaltenders night with Cayden Hamming coming off the bench in relief.
The change in net seemed the spark the Warriors, who got themselves on the scoresheet at the 10:48 mark of the opening period as Jake Bernadet pushed the Warriros on the board. He took the puck to the slot and fanned on a shot before collecting again and beating Clippers goaltender Aidan Campbell on the glove side for his 10th goal of the season and cut the deficit to 2-1.
West Kelowna was able to get the game on even terms in the opening period with just 10 seconds remaining as Chris Duclair notched his 15th goal of the season. Duclair took a pass at the left point and slapped a shot off of a Clippers stick and body before finding the back of the net past the blocker side of Campbell to make the score 2-2 heading into the 2nd period.
It took only 30 seconds into the 2nd period for the Warriors to earn their first lead of the game as Duclair was at it again, burying his second goal of the night. Duclair took a Michael Salandra pass in the left face-off circle and broke to the net before finishing on his backhand past the glove side of Campbell for his 16th tally of the season and a 3-2 West Kelowna advantage.
The Warriors held that lead through the 2nd period, including a missed penalty shot from Willyam Gendron late in the 2nd period, before the final five and a half minutes of the 3rd period saw three power play goals and a game forced to overtime.
Jake Hewitt got the game on even terms at the 14:31 mark of the final regulation period to tie the game at 3-3. On a five-on-three man advantage, Brody Waters threw the puck at the net as Hewitt deflected the puck past the blocker side of Hamming to level the game in the final part of the 3rd period.
Just under a minute and a half later, Waters gave the Clippers their first lead since the opening period with just 2 seconds remaining in a power play. Waters took a breakaway pass from Ethan Mistry at the Warriors blueline and walked in alone, beating Hamming on the glove side with a wrist shot at the 16:07 mark to give the Clippers a 4-3 lead before a final Warriors power play pushed the game to even once more.
In a 6-on-4 attack with the net empty, Ben MacDonald fired a shot off the left pad of Campbell with a rebound coming to Rylee Hlusiak who buried a backhand shot past Campbell for his 19th goal of the season and with 58 seconds left in the game tied the score once again at 4-4.
A late Warriors penalty saw Nanaimo start the overtime frame with a power play and it was Hewitt again for his second of the contest that ended the night. Brett Merner took a shot from the left point that was deflected in by Hewett past the blocker side of Hamming just 1:04 into the overtime period to get the win.
Angelo Zol started the game, turning 2 of the 4 shots he faced away before Cayden Hamming came on in relief, stopping 30 of the 33 shots thrown his way in his 3rd overtime loss of the season while Aidan Campbell made 42 saves on 46 shots in his 26th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 5-4 Clippers (OT)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 46-37 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 1/5
WARRIORS PK: 4/7
3 STARS:
1) Jake Hewitt (2-0-2)
2) Chris Duclair (2-0-2)
3) Ethan Mistry (0-2-2)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Isaiah Norlin (0-1-1)
Attendance: 806
The Warriors (26-20-6-0) enter their final weekend of play in the regular season with their final home game of the regular campaign, taking place on Friday night against the Merritt Centennials (12-35-3-2) at Royal LePage Place. It is Fan Appreciation Night with giveaways happening throughout the game and the Warriors will be presenting their year-end awards following the final buzzer. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online on the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Box Office ahead of the opening puck drop.
