PHOTO: Tami Quan
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – Cal Hughes scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal, one of his two on a three-point night, while Jack Pridham also collected a trio of points in a West Kelowna Warriors victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters by a 6-3 score on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
A frenetic opening period that was paced by six goals saw Hughes get the opening marker and allow the fans at RLP to fling their stuffed animals on the ice just 5:46 into the contest. Hughes took a backdoor tap in attempt from Trent Wilson at the right face-off circle and pushed home the loose puck on the blocker side of Smoke Eaters goaltender Teagan Kendrick for the 1-0 advantage.
Once the stuffies had been cleaned up, the Smoke Eaters took control of the game and rattled off three consecutive markers to get ahead, beginning with Judah Makway scoring his first career BC Hockey League goal at the 10:58 mark of the opening period after finishing a pass from Nathan Dominici on the blocker side of Matthew DellaRusso in the Warriors net to tie the game.
Mathieu Cobetto-Roy put Trail in front for the first time in the game at the 11:42 mark, just 44 seconds after tying the game. The Smoke Eaters forward accepted a drop pass from Ethan Mann in the slot and ripped a blocker side shot past DellaRusso for the lead.
A scramble in front of DellaRusso gave Trail a 3-1 lead after a failed clear out of the zone saw Jason Stefanek take the loose puck and send a shot that squeaked through the Warriors netminder and gave the Smoke Eaters a two-goal lead at 15:56 of the period and saw Rorke Applebee take over in goal, replacing DellaRusso after three goals counted on eight shots.
That gave a spark to the Warriors, who rattled off five consecutive goals after that, and started with Jackson Kyrkostas driving the net on the left wing and cut to the goal before completing the move on the glove side of Kendrick for his 10th goal of the season with three minutes remaining in the opening period to cut the lead to 3-2.
1:29 after that, the second goal of the period from Cal Hughes pushed the Warriors to level at 3-3. Jack Pridham centered a puck at the blocker side of the goal and spotted Hughes open in the slot for his second goal of the game and 10th of the season to make it a 3-3 score and conclude a six-goal opening frame.
Another first BCHL goal came in the second period and it was Eliot Compton who pushed through with the eventual game winning goal. Compton took a Pridham pass at the front of the net and roofed a backhand shot over the blocker side of Kendrick at the 7:16 mark of the middle frame to give the Warriors a 4-3 advantage heading into the 3rd period.
Applebee came up with a big breakaway save on Ethan Mann that kept the lead in tact before Pridham tallied his third point of the game with the insurance marker to get ahead 5-3. Driving to the net, he took a pass from Hughes just inside the blueline and flipped a backhander over Kendrick for his 8th goal of the season and a two-goal Warriors lead.
Trent Wilson added his 8th of the season into the empty net and sealed a 6-3 Warriors win. Matthew DellaRusso started the game, going 5-for-8 before Rorke Applebee turned away all 19 shots he faced in his 11th win of the season while Teagan Kendrick made 31 saves on 36 shots in his 7th loss of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 6-3 Warriors
SHOTS ON GOAL: 37-27 Warriors
WARRIORS PP: 0/5
WARRIORS PK: 3/3
3 STARS:
1) Cal Hughes (2-1-3)
2) Jack Pridham (1-2-3)
3) Eliot Compton (1-0-1)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Jackson Kyrkostas (1-0-1)
ATTENDANCE: 877
West Kelowna (16-6-2-0) conclude a three-game home stand as they welcome the Vernon Vipers (17-6-1-0) to Royal LePage Place on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is slated for 2:30 PM with a Skate With The Warriors immediately following the matinee contest. Tickets can be purchased online on the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Box Office.
